Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol remained defiantly inside his residence resisting arrest for a third day on Thursday, after vowing to “fight” authorities seeking to question him over his failed martial law bid.
The embattled leader issued the bungled declaration on December 3 that led to his impeachment and has left him facing arrest, imprisonment or, at worst, the death penalty.
Protesters camping outside his presidential residence laid on the ground to impede police on Thursday, while members of his security team have blocked earlier attempted police raids in a dramatic stand-off.
“We expect the CIO (Corruption Investigation Office) will enter through the main gate… to arrest President Yoon, so our colleagues are lying down at the moment to prevent them,” pro-Yoon protester Rhee Kang-san told AFP.
The protesters shouted “protect the president, protect, protect, protect!” as police tried to disperse those lying on the ground and control the crowd, which included a rival anti-Yoon rally.
Yoon has gone to ground but remained unrepentant as the crisis has rolled on, issuing a defiant message to his base days before an arrest warrant expires on January 6.
“The Republic of Korea is currently in danger due to internal and external forces threatening its sovereignty, and the activities of anti-state elements,” he said in a statement to protesters confirmed by his lawyer.
“I vow to fight alongside you to the very end to protect this nation,” he added, saying he was watching their protest on a YouTube live stream.
Yoon’s lawyer confirmed to AFP that the impeached leader remained inside the presidential compound.
Blocked raids
Opposition lawmakers were quick to condemn Yoon’s message as inflammatory, with Democratic Party spokesperson Jo Seoung-lae calling him “delusional” and accusing him of trying to incite clashes.
The suspended president’s legal team has filed for an injunction to block the warrant and described the arrest order on Wednesday as “an unlawful and invalid act”.
CIO chief Oh Dong-woon 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.
The presidential security service’s official stance in response to the warrants has been to follow procedure.
They have cited two articles in South Korea’s Criminal Procedure Act that prohibit seizure from locations where official secrets are stored, without consent of the person in charge.
It remains unclear how many guards are stationed with him but they have blocked searches of his office and residence.
The Seoul court has issued a warrant permitting investigators to search the presidential residence, creating an exception to those laws.
South Korean officials have previously failed to execute similar arrest warrants for lawmakers — in 2000 and 2004 — due to party members and supporters blocking police for the seven-day period the warrants were valid.
However, discussions between prosecutors and police about Yoon’s arrest are taking place in the background of the political crisis that saw the country briefly lurch back to the dark days of military rule.
Refused questioning
Yoon’s martial law order, which he said was aimed at eliminating “anti-state elements”, only lasted a few hours.
Armed troops stormed the national assembly building, scaling fences, smashing windows and landing by helicopter, but Yoon was quickly forced to make a U-turn after lawmakers rushed to parliament to vote it down.
He has since refused summonses for questioning three times and doubled down on claims the opposition was in league with South Korea’s communist enemies.
Supporters have raced to Seoul to support him in the wake of his refusal, spewing vitriol at police and waving anti-impeachment placards.
A constitutional court will rule whether to uphold his impeachment.
The turmoil deepened late last week when his replacement, Han Duck-soo, was also impeached by parliament for failing to sign bills for investigations into his predecessor.
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok has been installed as acting president and pledged to do all he can to end the political upheaval.
