South Korean investigators fail in bid to detain impeached president

South Korean investigators failed to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol after a nearly six-hour standoff with the presidential security service.

It is the latest confrontation of a political crisis that has paralysed South Korean politics and seen two heads of state impeached in under a month.

The country’s anti-corruption agency said it withdrew its investigators after they were blocked from entering Mr Yoon’s official residence due to concerns about the safety of its members.

The agency expressed “serious regret about the attitude of the suspect, who did not respond to a process by law”.

Mr Yoon, a former prosecutor, has defied investigators’ attempts to question him for weeks.

The last time he is known to have left the residence was on December 12, when he went to the nearby presidential office to make a televised statement to the nation, making a defiant statement that he will fight efforts to oust him.

Investigators from the country’s anti-corruption agency are weighing charges of rebellion after Mr Yoon, apparently frustrated that his policies were blocked by an opposition-dominated parliament, declared martial law on December 3 and dispatched troops to surround the National Assembly.

Parliament overturned the declaration within hours in an unanimous vote and impeached Mr Yoon on December 14, accusing him of rebellion, while South Korean anti-corruption authorities and public prosecutors opened separate investigations into the events.

A Seoul court issued a warrant for Mr Yoon’s detention on Tuesday, but enforcing it is complicated as long as he remains in his official residence.

Yoon’s lawyers, who filed a challenge to the warrant on Thursday, say it cannot be enforced at his residence due to a law that protects locations potentially linked to military secrets from search without the consent of the person in charge.

The office said it will discuss further actions, but did not immediately say whether it would make another attempt to detain Yoon. The warrant for his detention is valid for one week.

Mr Yoon’s lawyers have also argued that the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, which is leading a joint investigation with police and military investigators, lacks the authority to investigate rebellion charges.

They said that police officers do not have the legal authority to assist in detaining Mr Yoon, and could face arrest by either the “presidential security service or any citizens”.

Thousands of police officers gathered at

Nearly five hours after dozens of investigators and police officers were seen entering the gate of the residence in Seoul to execute the warrant, the dramatic scene appeared to have developed into a standoff.

Two of Mr Yoon’s lawyers, Yoon Kap-keun and Kim Hong-il, were seen entering the gate of the presidential residence around noon.

Seok Dong-hyeon, one of several lawyers on Yoon’s legal team, confirmed the investigators arrived at the building and said the agency’s efforts to detain Yoon were “reckless” and showed an “outrageous discard for law.”

South Korea’s Defence Ministry confirmed the investigators and police officers got past a military unit guarding the residence’s grounds before arriving at the building.

The presidential security service, which controls the residence itself, refused to comment on whether its members were confronting investigators and whether they planned to block the detention attempt.

The liberal opposition Democratic Party called on the country’s acting leader, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, to order the presidential security service to stand down.

Mr Yoon’s defence minister, police chief and several top military commanders have already been arrested over their roles in the period of martial law.

His presidential powers have been suspended since the National Assembly voted to impeach him. Mr Yoon’s fate now lies with the Constitutional Court, which has begun deliberations on whether to uphold the impeachment and formally remove Yoon from office or reinstate him. At least six justices on the nine-member Constitutional Court must vote in favour to remove him from office.

The National Assembly voted last week to impeach Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who became acting president after Yoon’s powers were suspended, over his reluctance to fill three Constitutional Court vacancies ahead of the court’s review of Yoon’s case.

Facing growing pressure, the new acting president, Mr Choi, appointed two new justices on Tuesday, which could increase the chances of the court upholding Yoon’s impeachment.