World News | South Korean Authorities Arrive at Residence of Impeached President for Second Attempt to Detain Him
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. South Korean law enforcement officials arrived early on Wednesday at impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol's official residence in the capital Seoul to begin their second attempt to detain him over his imposition of martial law last month.
Seoul, Jan 15 (AP) South Korean law enforcement officials arrived early on Wednesday at impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol's official residence in the capital Seoul to begin their second attempt to detain him over his imposition of martial law last month.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials and police are jointly investigating whether Yoon's brief martial law declaration on December 3 amounted to an attempted rebellion. They pledged more forceful measures to detain him after the presidential security service blocked their initial efforts on January 3.
Despite a court warrant for Yoon's detention, the presidential security service has insisted it's obligated to protect the impeached president and has fortified the compound with barbed wire and rows of buses blocking paths.
Vehicles from the anti-corruption agency were spotted near the residence, while rows of police officers dressed in black jackets were observed approaching its gate.
TV footage showed lawmakers from Yoon's People Power Party, along with at least one of his lawyers, lined up near the residence's gate, apparently arguing with anti-corruption officials and police officers attempting to enter.
Hundreds of Yoon's supporters and critics held competing protests near the residence -- one side vowing to protect him, the other calling for his imprisonment -- while thousands of police officers in yellow jackets closely monitored the situation, setting up perimeters with buses.
Yoon's top aide on Tuesday pleaded with law enforcement agencies to abandon their efforts to detain him. Presidential Chief of Staff Chung Jin-suk said Yoon could instead be questioned at a "third site" or at his residence and said the anti-corruption agency and police were trying to drag him out like he was a member of a "South American drug cartel".
But Yoon Kab-keun, one of the president's lawyers, said Chung issued the message without consulting them and that the legal team has no immediate plan to make the president available for questioning by investigators.
If investigators manage to detain Yoon Suk Yeol, they will likely ask a court for permission to make a formal arrest. Otherwise, he will be released after 48 hours.
Yoon has not left his official residence in Seoul for weeks, and the presidential security service prevented dozens of investigators from detaining him after a nearly six-hour standoff on January 3.
The National Police Agency has convened multiple meetings of field commanders in Seoul and nearby Gyeonggi province in recent days to plan their detainment efforts, and the size of those forces fuelled speculation that more than a thousand officers could be deployed in a possible multiday operation. The agency and police have openly warned that presidential bodyguards obstructing the execution of the warrant could be arrested.
Yoon declared martial law and deployed troops around the National Assembly on December 3. It lasted only hours before lawmakers managed to get through the blockade and vote to lift the measure.
Yoon's presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on December 14, accusing him of rebellion. His fate now rests with the Constitutional Court, which has begun deliberating on whether to formally remove Yoon from office or reject the charges and reinstate him. (AP)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)