South Korea’s impeached president defies arrest warrant after standoff – National

South Korean investigators left the official residence of the impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol after a standoff of almost six hours on Friday in which he prepared them. try to hold him. It is the latest confrontation in a political crisis that has paralyzed South Korean politics and seen two heads of state impeached in less than a month.

The country’s anti-corruption agency said it withdrew its investigators after the Presidential Security Service barred them from entering Yoon’s residence for hours, citing concerns about her safety.

The agency said the outnumbered investigators had had several disputes with presidential security forces and “expressed serious regret over the attitude of the suspect, who did not comply with the legal process.”

It said arresting Yoon would be “virtually impossible” as long as he is protected by the Presidential Security Service. The agency plans to “strongly demand” that the country’s acting leader, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, instruct the service to comply with its execution of the arrest warrant.

Outside the residence, a large group of pro-Yoon protesters braved freezing temperatures for hours, waving South Korean and American flags while chanting slogans vowing to protect him.

The National Police Agency said it planned to investigate the head and deputy heads of the presidential security service on suspicion of obstructing official duty and summoned them for questioning on Saturday.

Yoon, a former prosecutor, has resisted attempts by investigators to question him for weeks. The last time he is known to have left the residence was on December 12, when he went to the nearby presidential office to make a televised statement to the nation, making a defiant statement that he will fight efforts to impeach him to expel.

Investigators from the country’s anti-corruption agency are weighing rebellion charges after Yoon, apparently frustrated that his policies were blocked by an opposition-dominated parliament, declared martial law on December 3 and sent troops around the National Assembly.

Parliament reversed the statement within hours in a unanimous vote and impeached Yoon on December 14, accusing him of rebellion, while South Korean anti-corruption authorities and public prosecutors opened separate investigations into the events.

A Seoul court on Tuesday issued a warrant to detain Yoon and a separate warrant to search his residence, but enforcing them is complicated as long as he remains in his official residence.

Yoon’s lawyers, who filed a challenge to the warrant on Thursday, say it cannot be enforced in his hometown because of a law that protects locations potentially linked to military secrets from searches without the consent of ‘ the responsible person.

The agency said it will discuss further actions, but did not immediately say whether it would make another effort to detain Yoon. The warrant for his detention is valid for one week.

Yoon’s lawyers have also argued that the High Officials Corruption Investigation Bureau, which is leading a joint investigation with police and military investigators, lacks the authority to investigate allegations of rebellion. They said police officers do not have the legal authority to help detain Yoon, and can be arrested by either the “presidential security service or any citizen.” They did not elaborate on the complaint further.

If investigators succeed in detaining Yoon, they will likely ask a court for permission to make a formal arrest. Otherwise he will be released after 48 hours.

During a background briefing for reporters, an official from the anti-corruption agency said its investigators were able to get within 200 meters (yards) of Yoon’s residence but were stopped by a barricade consisting of about 10 vehicles and about 200 members of the presidential security forces and troops. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity under department rules, said three of her accusers were eventually allowed to approach the building, but they could not confirm whether Yoon was inside.

While the Presidential Security Law mandates protection for Yoon, it does not authorize the Presidential Security Service to block court-ordered arrests, which would be a violation of judicial authority, said Park Seong-bae, a lawyer specializing in criminal law. While the president usually enjoys immunity from prosecution while in office, the protection does not extend to charges of rebellion or treason.

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“There is a strong possibility that the action of blocking the execution of an arrest warrant would constitute an obstruction of official duty,” he said.

The law that requires permission from the person in charge of searches at locations containing potential military secrets could allow Yoon’s detention to continue. Courts often require that law enforcement officials search warrants with arrest warrants in case they need to search the site to locate the suspect, which is also what the anti-corruption agency did in their pursuit of Yoon.

It is unlikely that the approval could come from the country’s acting leader, Choi, because it would be difficult to see him as the person in charge of Yoon’s residence, Park said.

Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the liberal opposition Democratic Party, called the withdrawal of the anti-corruption agency regrettable and urged the agency to make another effort to detain Yoon on Friday.

Kwon Young-se, who heads the emergency leadership committee of Yoon’s conservative People Power Party, called the agency’s effort to arrest Yoon “highly unfair and grossly inappropriate,” and said there was no risk is that Yoon will try to flee or destroy evidence.

Thousands of police gathered at Yoon’s residence on Friday, forming a perimeter around a growing group of pro-Yoon protesters who braved freezing temperatures for hours, waving South Korean and American flags while chanting slogans vowing to protect him. There were no immediate reports of major collisions outside the residence.

Yoon’s defense minister, police chief and several top military commanders have already been arrested for their roles during the period of fighting.

Yoon’s presidential powers have been suspended since the National Assembly voted to impeach him on December 14. Yoon’s fate now lies with the Constitutional Court, which has begun deliberations on whether to suspend the impeachment and formally remove Yoon from his office or reinstate him. At least six judges on the nine-member Constitutional Court must vote in favor of removing him from office.

The National Assembly last week voted to impeach Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who became acting president after Yoon’s powers were suspended, because of his unwillingness to fill three Constitutional Court vacancies ahead of the court’s review of Yoon’s case.

Facing mounting pressure, the new acting president, Choi, appointed two new judges on Tuesday, which could increase the chance that the court will uphold Yoon’s impeachment.