South Korea: Yoon Suk Yeol’s arrest increases political tension

South Korea’s political leadership found itself in uncharted territory Saturday after the sitting president resisted arrest over a failed martial law decree days before the court order was set to expire.

Following the disastrous proclamation of martial law last month, which parliament quickly rejected, the South Korean president was impeached and suspended, and a separate arrest warrant was later issued. (AP)

In scenes of high drama on Friday, Yoon Suk Yeol’s presidential guards and military troops protected the former star prosecutor from investigators, who called off his arrest attempt citing security concerns.

The South Korean president was impeached and suspended last month after the failed declaration of martial law – a political measure quickly revoked by parliament – and a separate warrant was subsequently issued for his arrest.

“There was a clash. While we estimate that the personnel who blocked us were around 200, there could have been more,” an official from the investigation team said on Friday on condition of anonymity.

“It was a dangerous situation.”

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Yoon faces criminal charges for insurrection, one of the few crimes not subject to presidential immunity, meaning he could be sentenced to prison or, in the worst case, the death penalty.

If carried out, the order would make Yoon the first sitting president to be arrested.

Since his dismissal, Yoon has taken refuge in his presidential residence in the capital, Seoul, where he has refused to leave for questioning on three occasions.

The unprecedented standoff, which reportedly included confrontations but no shooting, left investigators’ attempted arrest in limbo and the warrant is set to expire Monday.

Officials with the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which is investigating Yoon over his martial law decree, said there could be another attempt to arrest him before then.

But if the order expires, they would have to apply for another one from the same Seoul court that issued the initial summons.

The Constitutional Court set January 14 for the start of the impeachment trial against Yoon, which if he does not attend would continue in his absence.

Former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye never appeared at their impeachment trials.

Yoon’s lawyers denounced Friday’s attempted arrest as “illegal and invalid” and vowed to take legal action.

Experts said investigators could wait for further legal justification before attempting to arrest the suspended president again.

“It may be difficult to carry out the arrest until the Constitutional Court rules on the impeachment motion and strips him of the presidential title,” Chae Jin-won of Kyung Hee University’s Humanitas College told AFP.

– ‘Stable path’ –

South Korean media reported that CIO officials wanted to arrest Yoon and take him to their office in Gwacheon, near Seoul, for questioning.

After that, he could have been detained for up to 48 hours under the existing order. Investigators would have had to request another arrest warrant to keep him in custody.

Yoon has remained defiant despite the political stalemate that began with his Dec. 3 decree.

This week he told his right-wing supporters that he would fight “to the end” for his political survival.

When investigators tried to execute the warrant against Yoon detentionHe had equipped his presidential compound with hundreds of security forces to prevent it.

About 20 investigators and 80 police officers were vastly outnumbered by about 200 soldiers and security personnel who joined together to block their path after entering the presidential complex.

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A tense six-hour standoff ensued until early Friday afternoon, when investigators were forced to turn around for fear that violence would break out.

Weeks of political turmoil have threatened the country’s stability.

South Korea’s main security ally, the United States, called on the political elite to work towards a “stable path” forward.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to maintaining bilateral ties and its readiness to respond to “any external provocation or threat.”

Outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to hold talks in Seoul on Monday, with one eye on the political crisis and another on neighboring nuclear-armed North Korea.