Attempt To Arrest Deposed S Korea President Suspended

After a dramatic six-hour long standoff with security, South Korean police have called off an attempt to arrest suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The 150 officers involved found themselves helplessly outnumbered – first by the large number of pro-Yoon supporters who had gathered outside his residence before sunrise, and then by a human wall of security staff inside the property.

Police were trying to carry out an arrest warrant issued earlier this week after Yoon ignored three summonses for him to appear for questioning.

The politician is currently under investigation for abusing his power and inciting an insurrection when he tried to impose martial law in early December.

Dozens of police vans lined the street outside Yoon’s residence in central Seoul early on Friday morning, before the arrest team – made up of police officers and members of the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) – began moving towards the building at about 08:00 local time (23:00 GMT).

The operation started out with a 20-strong team, but quickly multiplied to some 150 people. Even then, they were outnumbered.

While about half of the team was able to get inside, they were locked for hours in a standoff with presidential security officers – who are still responsible for protecting Yoon, despite him being stripped of his powers – and a military unit responsible for protecting the city of Seoul.

At one point Yoon’s security team engaged in a “confrontation” with the investigating officers, an official with Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff told news agency AFP.

“We’ve determined that the arrest is practically impossible,” said the CIO, which has been investigating Yoon’s short-lived martial law declaration last month.

If they had been successful, Yoon would have become the first sitting president to be arrested in South Korea’s history.

Yoon’s “refusal of the legal process” is “deeply regrettable”, the CIO said, adding that next steps will be decided after a review.

Yoon’s supporters, who have been camped out in front of the presidential residence for days, cheered in song and dance as the suspension was announced. “We won!” they chanted. Some carried “Stop the Steal” signs – an echo of the call used by US President Donald Trump’s supporters after he lost the 2020 election.

The CIO said that concern for the safety of the team on the ground was a factor in their decision to call off the attempted arrest.

The presidential security service has said they will hold the CIO and police accountable for trespassing, adding that the team had injured some of their staff members.

Source: BBC