Video footage shows that Korea’s public prosecution team’s vehicles gathered in front of the impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol’s official residence, preparing to execute an arrest warrant on Wednesday, January 15th.
The team executing the arrest warrant is composed of investigators from the “Senior Public Officials Crime Investigation Department” (Public Prosecution Office) and the police. The team obtained the arrest warrant on January 7th and held multiple meetings in an attempt to ensure the successful execution of the warrant.
On the evening of January 14th, near the presidential residence, a large number of buses mobilized by the police were parked along the road. This is the Public Prosecution Office’s second attempt to arrest Yoon Suk-yeol. The previous attempt was on January 3rd when there was a standoff between the Public Prosecution Office personnel and the presidential security personnel for several hours, ultimately failing to arrest Yoon Suk-yeol.
According to reports from Reuters, during this latest arrest operation, observers saw law enforcement officers conversing with Yoon Suk-yeol’s lawyer. The lawyer claimed that the attempt to arrest the President was illegal.
On Wednesday morning, a large number of Yoon Suk-yeol supporters gathered in front of the presidential residence, with some ruling party lawmakers forming a human chain in an attempt to prevent the execution of the arrest warrant.
According to the BBC reports, as of now, the police and the Public Prosecution Office investigators have not entered the presidential palace. However, the police seem to be attempting to enter the residence from multiple locations. At the same time, the investigators are also trying to enter the presidential residence from the back of the main compound.
As reported by Yonhap News Agency, on the morning of January 14th, representatives from the National Police Agency’s National Investigation Headquarters, the Public Prosecution Office, and the presidential security service held a trilateral meeting to discuss matters related to the execution of the detention order against President Yoon Suk-yeol.
The Public Prosecution Office and the police have devised a plan to deploy approximately 1000 personnel to execute the detention procedure, while the presidential security service openly opposes this. Due to the increased risk of conflicts such as bloodshed incidents, the police proposed dialogue among the three parties regarding the matter. It is reported that the parties have been unable to narrow their differences.
Yoon Suk-yeol was impeached for declaring a brief state of emergency on December 3rd last year, following which his presidential powers were suspended. His fate now rests in the hands of the Constitutional Court. The court has begun deliberating whether to formally remove him from office or dismiss the charges and reinstate him.
Additionally, he is also facing an investigation into alleged involvement in insurrection. The President of Korea does not have immunity from charges of insurrection or treason.