By Eduardo Baptista, Hyunsu Yim and Joyce Lee
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s presidential guards and navy troops prevented authorities from arresting impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday in a tense six hour stand-off inside Yoon’s compound within the coronary heart of Seoul.
Yoon is below prison investigation for rebel over his Dec. 3 martial legislation bid that shocked South Korea and result in the primary arrest warrant to be issued for a sitting president.
“It was judged that it was virtually impossible to execute the arrest warrant due to the ongoing standoff,” the Corruption Investigation Workplace for Excessive-ranking Officers (CIO) mentioned in an announcement.
The CIO officers and police evaded lots of of Yoon supporters who gathered within the pre-dawn hours close to his residence on Friday, vowing to dam the arrest “with our lives”.
Some chanted “President Yoon Suk Yeol will be protected by the people,” and referred to as for the top of the CIO to be arrested.
Officers from the CIO, which is main a joint group of investigators into doable rebel expenses associated to Yoon’s transient declaration of martial legislation, arrived on the gates of the presidential compound shortly after 7 a.m. (2200 GMT Thursday) and entered on foot.
As soon as contained in the compound, the CIO and police had been outnumbered by cordons of Presidential Safety Service (PSS) personnel, in addition to navy troops seconded to presidential safety, a CIO official instructed reporters.
Greater than 200 PSS brokers and troopers shaped a number of layers of human chains to dam the CIO and police, the official added. Whereas there have been altercations and PSS brokers seemed to be carrying firearms, no weapons had been drawn within the standoff, the official mentioned.
Yoon, who has been remoted since he was impeached and suspended from energy on Dec. 14, was not seen in the course of the standoff, he mentioned.
South Korea’s Ministry of Nationwide Protection mentioned the troops had been below the management of the PSS.
The CIO referred to as off the trouble to arrest Yoon round 1:30 p.m. resulting from considerations over the security of its personnel resulting from obstruction, and mentioned it “deeply regretted” Yoon’s perspective of non-compliance.
The CIO mentioned it will take into account its subsequent steps. The police, who’re a part of the joint investigation group, have designated the PSS chief and the deputy as suspects in a prison case for obstruction of official responsibility and issued summons for them to look for questioning on Saturday, Yonhap information reported.
Rebel is likely one of the few prison expenses from which a South Korean president doesn’t have immunity.
Yoon’s arrest warrant, accredited by a courtroom on Tuesday after he ignored a number of summons to look for questioning, is viable till Jan. 6.
In an announcement after the arrest effort was suspended, Yoon’s authorized group mentioned the CIO had no authority to research rebel and it was regrettable that it had tried to “forcibly execute an illegal and invalid arrest and search warrant” in a delicate safety space.
The assertion warned police towards supporting the arrest effort.
The interim head of Yoon’s Folks Energy Occasion welcomed the suspension and mentioned the investigation have to be carried out with out detaining Yoon.
The present warrant offers investigators solely 48 hours to carry Yoon after he’s arrested. Investigators should then resolve whether or not to request a detention warrant or launch him.
SURPRISE MARTIAL LAW
Yoon despatched shockwaves by Asia’s fourth-largest financial system and one of many area’s most vibrant democracies along with his late-night announcement that he was imposing martial legislation to beat political impasse and root out “anti-state forces”.
Inside hours, nonetheless, 190 lawmakers had defied the cordons of troops and police to vote towards Yoon’s order. About six hours after his preliminary decree, Yoon rescinded it.
He later issued a defiant defence of his determination, saying home political opponents are sympathetic to North Korea and citing uncorroborated claims of election tampering.
Two South Korean navy officers, together with military chief Park An-su who was named martial legislation commander in the course of the short-lived declaration, have been indicted after being detained by prosecutors investigating rebel expenses, Yonhap reported on Friday.
Kim Yong-hyun, who resigned as Yoon’s defence minister after enjoying a serious function within the martial legislation decree, has been detained and was indicted final week on expenses of rebel and abuse of energy.
Separate from the prison investigation, his impeachment case is at the moment earlier than the Constitutional Court docket to resolve whether or not to reinstate or completely take away him. A second listening to in that case was held on Friday and the courtroom set the primary oral arguments for Jan. 14.
Bae Jin-han, one of many legal professionals for Yoon, instructed reporters Yoon might not seem for the primary arguments however will seemingly achieve this at a future listening to to argue his place.
