South Korean standoff as police move in to arrest impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol for second time
14 January 2025, 22:37 | Updated: 14 January 2025, 23:28
South Korean authorities investigating impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol are trying for the second time to enter his residence to arrest him after he declared martial law late last year.
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Hundreds of the impeached president's supporters have gathered near his residence in Seoul, vowing to protect him.
There are also a large number of anti-Yoon protestors, and up to 1,000 police officers at the scene.
Dozens of investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) tried to arrest Yoon on January 3, but gave up after a six-hour standoff with the Presidential Security Service (PSS).
This second attempt has led to another standoff between investigators and police on one side, who want to carry out the warrant for Yoon’s arrest, and presidential security forces who are blocking them.
Police are now understood to have entered the impeached president’s compound from various different entrances, as investigators try to enter through the back of the property.
Read more: South Korean court issues arrest warrant for impeached president who declared martial law
Investigating officers tried to push through the crowd of Yoon's supporters at his villa, where he has been hiding out for weeks behind barbed wire and his personal security staff.
Buses blocked the road leading up to the residence where anti-graft officers were earlier seen talking to Yoon's lawyers, Reuters reports.
They argue that it would be illegal to arrest the impeached president, and that it would only serve to publicly humiliate him.
Wednesday morning, hundreds of people protesting Yoon's arrest came together to sing and wave flags, some with "Stop the Steal" slogans on them, referring to Yoon's unproven claims of election fraud.
Yoon’s impeachment trial, which will decide if he is removed from office or reinstated, began yesterday, but was forced to end within four minutes as Yoon didn’t show up.
Yoon's imposition of martial law lasted only six hours but triggered huge political turmoil, halting high-level diplomacy and rattling financial markets.
The president sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly to block a vote on his decree, but enough members managed to enter the assembly chamber to overturn it unanimously.
Yoon has argued his decree was a legitimate act of governance, calling it a warning to the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, which he has called "a monster" and "anti-state forces" that has used its legislative majority to impeach top officials, undermine the government's budget and which he claims sympathises with North Korea.
The CIO secured a renewed arrest warrant on January 7 and has spoken to Yoon's personal security multiple times to ensure a successful execution.
