South Korean investigators sought to arrest impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol at his residence Friday over a failed martial law bid, but local media reported security forces were blocking their attempts.
Yoon, who has already been suspended from duty by lawmakers, would become the first sitting president in South Korean history to be arrested if the warrant is carried out.
The president, who issued a bungled declaration on December 3 that shook the vibrant East Asian democracy and briefly lurched it back to the dark days of military rule, faces imprisonment or, at worst, the death penalty.
鈥楾he execution of the arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol has begun,鈥� said the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which is probing Yoon鈥檚 short-lived declaration of martial law, with its officials and police seen entering the president鈥檚 residence.
CIO investigators including senior prosecutor Lee Dae-hwan were let through heavy security barricades to enter the residence to attempt to execute their warrant to detain Yoon, AFP reporters saw.
But they were 鈥榖locked by a military unit inside鈥� after entering, the Yonhap news agency reported.
They later 鈥榤oved past鈥� that unit to 鈥榗onfront security service鈥� members inside the residence.
It had been unclear whether the Presidential Security Service, which still protects Yoon as the country鈥檚 sitting head of state, would comply with investigators鈥� warrants.
Members of his security team have previously blocked attempted police raids of the presidential residence, but it was not immediately clear which units had blocked investigators Friday.
Yoon鈥檚 legal team decried the attempt to execute the arrest warrant, vowing to take further legal action against the move.
鈥楾he execution of a warrant that is illegal and invalid is indeed not lawful,鈥� !Yoon鈥檚 lawyer Yoon Kap-keun said.
Dozens of police buses and hundreds of uniformed police lined the street outside the compound in central Seoul, AFP reporters saw.
Some 2,700 police and 135 police buses have been deployed to the area to prevent clashes, Yonhap reported, after Yoon鈥檚 supporters faced off with anti-Yoon demonstrators Thursday.
Yoon has been holed up inside the residence since a court approved the warrant to detain him earlier this week, vowing to 鈥渇ight鈥� authorities seeking to question him over his failed martial law bid.
South Korean media have reported that CIO officials want to arrest Yoon and take him to their office in Gwacheon near Seoul for questioning.
After that, he can be held for up to 48 hours on the existing warrant. Investigators need to apply for another arrest warrant to keep him in custody.
The residence of South Korea鈥檚 impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol is seen in Seoul
After staging chaotic protests Thursday, a handful of Yoon鈥檚 die-hard supporters, which include far-right YouTube personalities and evangelical Christian preachers, had camped outside his compound all night 鈥� some holding all-night prayer sessions.
They chanted early Friday for the arrest of opposition leader Lee Jae-myung and 鈥業llegal warrant is invalid鈥� as police and media gathered outside the residence.
Pro-Yoon protester Rhee Kang-san told AFP many were 鈥榬ooting for the president鈥� to survive the arrest attempt.
Lee Hye-sook, a 57-year-old Yoon supporter, said protesters were trying to stop opposition figures from 鈥榓ttempting to transform our country into a socialist state, similar to North Korea鈥�.
Yoon has doubled down on claims the opposition was in league with South Korea鈥檚 communist enemies.
Yoon鈥檚 lawyer confirmed to AFP Thursday that the impeached leader remained inside the presidential compound.
Yoon鈥檚 legal team had already filed for an injunction to a constitutional court to block the warrant, calling the arrest order 鈥榓n unlawful and invalid act鈥�, and also submitted an objection to the Seoul court that ordered it.
But the head of the CIO, Oh Dong-woon, has warned that anyone trying to block authorities from arresting Yoon could themselves face prosecution.
Along with the summons, a Seoul court issued a search warrant for his official residence and other locations, a CIO official told AFP.
South Korean officials have previously failed to execute similar arrest warrants for lawmakers 鈥� in 2000 and 2004 鈥� due to party members and supporters blocking police for the seven days the warrants were valid.
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