Impeached S’Korean president faces arrest as deadline looms

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared poised to evade arrest ahead of a Monday night deadline after anti-graft investigators requested more time to enforce a warrant.

The former star prosecutor has defiantly refused questioning three times over a bungled martial law decree last month and remains holed up in his residence, surrounded by hundreds of guards preventing his arrest.

Anti-graft investigators sought an extension to the warrant, which expires at the end of Monday (1500 GMT), and requested support from the police.

The police confirmed their willingness to assist investigators and warned they could arrest anyone obstructing Yoon’s arrest.

“The validity of the warrant expires today. We plan to request an extension from the court,” said CIO deputy director Lee Jae-Seung, whose authority has been challenged by Yoon’s lawyers.

Investigators cited difficulties, including encountering hundreds of security forces when they attempted to enter Yoon’s presidential compound on Friday.

“We will consider the option of arresting any personnel from the Presidential Security Service during the execution of the second warrant,” a police official said on Monday, speaking anonymously.

The opposition Democratic Party has called for the dissolution of the security service protecting the impeached president.

If detained, Yoon, already suspended from office by lawmakers, would become the first sitting president in South Korean history to face arrest.

Authorities would then have 48 hours to either apply for another warrant or release him.
‘We will return’ –

Yoon could face imprisonment or, in the worst-case scenario, the death penalty if convicted of insurrection for briefly suspending civilian rule, plunging South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades.
Despite this, Yoon and his supporters remain defiant.

“The Presidential Security Service will protect the President, and we will protect the Presidential Security Service until midnight,” said Kim Soo-yong, 62, a protest organiser.
“If they get another warrant, we will return,” he added.

Before dawn, dozens of Yoon’s supporters from the People Power Party gathered outside his residence, with police blocking nearby roads.

“I’ve been here longer than the CIO. It doesn’t make sense why they can’t do it. They need to arrest him immediately,” said anti-Yoon protest organiser Kim Ah-young, in her 30s.

The initial warrant was issued after Yoon refused to cooperate with questioning over his martial law decree. His lawyers have repeatedly described the warrant as “unlawful” and pledged further legal challenges.

South Korea finds itself in uncharted territory. Whether Yoon is arrested or evades detention, the situation marks a constitutional crisis for the vibrant East Asian democracy.
Blinken in town –

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Seoul early Monday. Although not scheduled to meet Yoon, he held a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul.

While praising South Korea’s democratic resilience, Blinken’s visit was overshadowed by North Korea’s launch of an apparent intercontinental ballistic missile during his meeting with Cho.

A prosecutors’ report for Yoon’s former defence minister, seen by AFP on Sunday, revealed that Yoon ignored objections from key cabinet ministers before initiating the failed martial law decree. The evidence could play a role in his upcoming trial.

South Korea’s Constitutional Court has scheduled Yoon’s impeachment trial for January 14. If he refuses to attend, the trial will proceed in his absence. The court has up to 180 days to decide whether to dismiss Yoon as president or reinstate his powers.

Former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye similarly abstained
from attending their impeachment trials.

AFP