South Korea presidential security chief urges ‘no bloodshed’ over arrest of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Head of the Presidential Security Service (PSS) Park Chong-jun (C) arrives outside the National Office of Investigation in Seoul. — AFP

SEOUL, Jan 10 — South Korea’s presidential security chief said today there must be no bloodshed if another arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol is executed by investigators over his failed martial law bid.

Yoon has refused questioning and last week resisted arrest in a tense stand-off between his guards and investigators after his short-lived power grab plunged South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades.

“I understand many citizens are concerned about the current situation where government agencies are in conflict and confrontation,” presidential security service chief Park Chong-jun told reporters today before he was questioned at the Korean National Police Agency.

“I believe that under no circumstances should there be physical clashes or bloodshed.”

Investigators seeking to question Yoon on insurrection charges linked to his ill-fated declaration of martial law secured a new arrest warrant this week after an initial seven-day order expired on Monday.

Several hundred of his supporters have rushed to the presidential residence, braving sub-zero temperatures to defend him.

Rival protesters have either called for Yoon’s impeachment to be declared invalid or for him to be detained immediately.

Yoon would become the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested if investigators are able to detain him.

His legal team have said they will not comply with the current warrant.

The Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) has declared that it would “prepare thoroughly” for the second arrest attempt.

CIO chief Oh Dong-woon has apologised for the failed first arrest attempt, saying he was “heartbroken”.

A supporter of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol waves a South Korean flag as she wears a US flag on a pedestrian bridge near the President's residence in Seoul. — AFP

Tense standoff

Meanwhile, Yoon’s guards have been increasing security at his central Seoul residential compound with barbed wire installations and bus barricades.

Separate from the insurrection probe, Yoon also faces ongoing impeachment proceedings— lawmakers have already suspended him, but the country’s Constitutional Court will decide whether to uphold this or restore him to office.

The court has slated Jan 14 for the start of Yoon’s impeachment trial, which would proceed in his absence if he does not attend.

Yoon’s legal team says he remains inside the residence and could appear at the trial.

Former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye never appeared for their impeachment trials in 2004 and 2016-2017, respectively.

The court has up to 180 days from Dec 14, when the court received the case, to determine whether to dismiss Yoon or restore him as president.

Last week, investigators and police abandoned their arrest bid in a six-hour standoff after being met by a wall of hundreds of security force members who linked arms to prevent access to Yoon.

Negotiations between the two sides ultimately faltered and investigators decided to leave for their team’s safety.

The CIO was set up less than four years ago and has fewer than 100 staff, who are yet to prosecute a single case. — AFP