South Korean authorities fail to arrest president due to security stand-off
Kyiv • UNN
An attempted arrest of South Korean President Yoon Sook-yol failed due to opposition from the military and security services. Law enforcement officers stopped the operation due to a threat to the safety of personnel.
South Korean authorities on Friday failed to arrest impeached President Yun Seok-yol over his martial law declaration, Reuters reports, UNN writes.
Details
Yun's supporters gathered at the presidential residence in the wee hours of the morning, their number growing to hundreds, and they vowed to prevent any attempts to arrest Yun, the newspaper writes.
Officers from the Office of High-Level Corruption Investigation (OHCI), which is leading a joint team of investigators into Yun's brief declaration of martial law on December 3, arrived at the gates of the presidential compound shortly after 7 a.m. local time (22:00 GMT Thursday) and entered.
Once inside the compound, the CIO and accompanying police encountered a cordon of members of the Presidential Security Service (PSS), as well as military personnel assigned to the presidential security service, media reports said. The South Korean Ministry of National Defense said the troops were under the control of the PSS.
The head of the CIO stopped trying to arrest Yoon at around 13:30 local time due to concerns for the safety of his staff due to the interference, and said he "deeply regrets" Yoon's disobedience.
"It was determined that it was virtually impossible to execute the arrest warrant due to the ongoing standoff," the CIO said in a statement.
Yoon's lawyer said in an earlier statement on Friday that the execution of the invalid arrest warrant for Yoon was illegal and that they would take legal action without going into details.
The arrest warrant, approved by the court on Tuesday after Yoon ignored several summonses to appear for questioning, is valid until January 6 and gives investigators only 48 hours to detain Yoon after his arrest. Investigators must then decide whether to request an arrest warrant or release him.
The CIO said on Friday that it would review the situation and decide on possible further steps.
