Seoul:
South Korean investigators called off their attempt to arrest ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol at his hometown on Friday over a failed martial law bid, citing security concerns after a standoff with his security team.
Yoon, who has already been suspended by lawmakers, would become the first sitting president in South Korea's history to be arrested if the order is carried out.
The president, who issued a failed declaration on December 3 that shook the vibrant East Asian democracy and briefly took it back to the dark days of military rule, faces jail time or, in the worst case, the death penalty.
“Regarding the execution of the arrest warrant today, it was determined that the execution was effectively impossible due to the ongoing standoff,” the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which is investigating Yoon over his martial law, said in a statement.
“Concerns for the safety of personnel on the ground led to the decision to halt the arrest attempt,” said the statement on the confrontation with Yoon's presidential security service and his military unit.
The deadline for the arrest warrant is Monday, leaving it in limbo for just a few more days and Yoon is defiant and vowed earlier this week to “fight” authorities who want to question him.
CIO investigators, including Senior Prosecutor Lee Dae-hwan, were earlier allowed through heavy security barricades to enter the residence in an attempt to execute their arrest warrant for Yoon.
But soldiers under the presidential security detail were at one point involved in a “confrontation with the CIO at the presidential residence,” an official from Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff told AFP.
Before the execution of the court-approved arrest warrant was called off, Yoon's security detail told AFP they had been “in negotiations” with the CIO investigators trying to gain access to the president.
Yoon's security service – which continues to protect Yoon as the country's sitting head of state – has previously blocked attempted police raids on the presidential office.
The president himself has ignored three calls from investigators, prompting them to request a warrant.
Yoon's legal team – who rushed to the home and AFP saw they were allowed inside – denounced the attempt to execute the arrest warrant and vowed to take further legal action against the move.
“The execution of an order that is illegal and invalid is indeed not lawful,” said Yoon's lawyer Yoon Kap-keun.
On Friday, prosecutors also charged two top military officials, including one who was briefly appointed martial law commander during last month's fiasco, on charges of insurrection, Yonhap reported. Both were already in custody.
Dozens of police buses and hundreds of uniformed police officers lined the street outside the complex in central Seoul, AFP reporters saw.
About 2,700 police and 135 police buses were sent to the area to prevent clashes, Yonhap reported, after Yoon's supporters confronted anti-Yoon protesters on Thursday.
Prayers all night long
South Korean media reported that CIO officials wanted to arrest Yoon and take him to their office in Gwacheon near Seoul for questioning.
He could then have been held for up to 48 hours based on the existing warrant. Detectives must apply for a new arrest warrant to keep him in custody.
After staging chaotic protests on Thursday, a handful of Yoon's die-hard supporters, including far-right YouTube personalities and evangelical Christian preachers, had camped outside his compound in the bitter cold – some holding prayer sessions throughout the night.
They called for the arrest of opposition leader Lee Jae-myung early Friday and chanted “Illegal arrest warrant is invalid” as police and media gathered outside the residence.
Pro-Yoon protester Rhee Kang-san told AFP that many were “advocating for the president” to survive the arrest attempt.
Lee Hye-sook, a 57-year-old Yoon supporter, said protesters were trying to stop opposition figures from “trying to transform our country into a socialist state similar to North Korea.”
Yoon has doubled down on claims that the opposition was working with South Korea's communist enemies.
Yoon's legal team had already moved to try to block the arrest warrant at the Constitutional Court, calling it “unlawful”.
But the head of the CIO, Oh Dong-woon, has warned that anyone who tries to prevent authorities from arresting Yoon could face prosecution themselves.
South Korean officials have previously failed to execute similar arrest warrants for lawmakers — in 2000 and 2004 — because party members and supporters blocked police for seven days when the arrest warrants were valid.
Yoon also faces a separate hearing at the Constitutional Court, which will confirm or reject his impeachment by parliament.
In rare comments on South politics, North Korean state media said Friday that Seoul was in “political chaos” over efforts to arrest Yoon.
(This story has not been edited by Our staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)