Seoul: Authorities sought on Friday to execute an unprecedented arrest warrant for impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, evading a crowd of protesters that faced off with police outside his residence and vowed to block any attempt.
Yoon is under criminal investigation for his short-lived martial law attempt on December 3. An arrest would be unprecedented for an incumbent South Korean president.
Police officers near the presidential residence in Seoul drag away supporters of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol as he faces potential arrest.Credit: AP
Officials from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), which is leading a joint team of investigators that includes the police and prosecutors, had arrived at the gates of Yoon’s compound in Seoul shortly after 7am (9am AEDT), according to Reuters witnesses.
Broadcaster YTN reported that about 2800 police had been mobilised in preparation for executing the arrest warrant.
Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking officials arrive in front of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s official residence in Seoul.Credit: Getty Images
It was unclear whether the Presidential Security Service, which has blocked access by investigators with a search warrant to Yoon’s office and official residence, would try to stop the arrest.
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About 100 protesters were gathered in the pre-dawn hours near his residence, amid local media reports that investigating authorities would soon try to execute an arrest warrant that was approved on Tuesday after Yoon refused a summons to appear before a court.
“We have to block them with our lives,” one protester was heard saying to others. About a dozen protesters tried to block a group of police officers at the entrance to a pedestrian overpass.
