Another incredible day in South Korea. South Korean investigators tried in vain this Friday, January 3, to arrest deposed President Yoon Suk-yeol at his residence in Seoul for his failed attempt to impose martial law on December 3, prevented from achieving their ends by the presidential bodyguards.
For nearly six hours, prosecutors and agents from the Senior Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which is centralizing the “rebellion” investigation opened against Yoon Suk-yeol, remained inside the residence presidential, in the heights of the chic Hannam district. They ended up leaving around 1:30 p.m. (5:30 a.m. Paris time), empty-handed.
“Regarding the execution of the arrest warrant today, it was determined that it was materially impossible due to the continuing impasse,” the IOC said in a statement. “Concerns for the safety of personnel on site led to the decision to halt the execution,” he added.
Blocked by soldiers
A Joint Staff officer in Seoul told AFP that the IOC team had “entered into confrontation” with soldiers under the orders of the presidential security service. The latter for his part indicated to AFP that he had conducted “negotiations” with the IOC.
The presidential security service, which continues to protect Yoon Suk-yeol as acting head of state, had already prevented several searches by investigators at the deposed president’s home in recent days. Hastily arriving at the presidential residence on Friday morning, Yoon Suk-yeol’s team of lawyers once again denounced an “illegal and invalid” arrest warrant.
The IOC has until January 6 to execute the arrest warrant issued by a Seoul court at its request on Tuesday. An arrest of Yoon Suk-yeol, who officially remains the head of state and is only suspended pending confirmation by the Constitutional Court of his dismissal by mid-June, would be unprecedented in the history of South Korea.
Evangelists and YouTubers
Hundreds of die-hard Yoon Suk-yeol supporters, including well-known far-right YouTubers and evangelical Christian preachers, camped near the presidential residence overnight from Thursday to Friday, with some holding all-night prayer sessions. “Yoon Suk-yeol! Yoon Suk-yeol!” they chanted while waving red light sticks, watched by the police in large numbers. “We are gathered here today, ready to risk our lives,” Lee Hye-sook, 57, told AFP, accusing the opposition of “trying to transform our country into a socialist state similar to Korea of the North”.
Some 2,700 police officers, according to the South Korean agency Yonhap, were deployed in the area, after clashes between supporters and detractors of the deposed president on Thursday evening.
Yoon Suk-yeol stunned South Korea on the night of December 3 to 4 by imposing martial law and sending the army to Parliament to try to muzzle him, an episode that reminded the country of the dark hours of the dictatorship military. He was forced to backtrack a few hours later, when MPs managed to enter Parliament and pass a motion demanding the lifting of martial law while their aides blocked the chamber doors with furniture and thousands of pro-democracy protesters gathered outside.
“A complete wreck”
This Friday, prosecutors also charged two senior military officials with “rebellion,” one of whom was briefly named a martial law commander, Yonhap reported. Both are in detention. Yoon Suk-yeol, a 64-year-old former star prosecutor, has shown no contrition since his dismissal by Parliament on December 14, even swearing in a letter to his supporters to “fight until the end”.
“It’s been a month since the country became a complete wreck due to the illegal declaration of martial law on December 3, but Yoon Suk-yeol’s message to his supporters shows that he doesn’t have the slightest sense of remorse or responsibility”, said this Friday in an editorial in the major right-wing daily Dong-A Ilbo. “The behavior of President Yoon, who relies on his most extremist supporters, is more than embarrassing. It has reached deplorable levels,” the newspaper added.
North Korea, until now stingy with comments on the political crisis in its enemy to the South, described a situation of “chaos” in Seoul on Friday. “An arrest warrant has been issued against the president, paralyzing state affairs and aggravating social and political chaos,” wrote the official KCNA agency. One thing is certain: the twists and turns are far from over.