Seoul (TDI): South Korean investigators called off their attempt to arrest impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol at his residence Friday over a failed martial law bid, citing safety concerns after a standoff with his security team.
Yoon, who has already been suspended from duty by parliament, would be the first sitting president in South Korean history to be arrested if the warrant is executed.
The president, who made a controversial declaration on December 3 that briefly plunged the vibrant East Asian democratic country back into the shadow the military rule, faces potential imprisonment or, in the worst case, the death penalty.
“Regarding the execution of the arrest warrant today, it was decided that the execution was effectively impossible because of the ongoing standoff,” the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which is investigating Yoon over his martial law decree, said in a statement.
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The statement noted that the decision to call off the arrest attempt was made due to concerns for the safety of personnel on site, following the confrontation with Yoon’s presidential security staff and its military unit.
The deadline for the warrant is Monday, leaving it in limbo with just a few days remaining and the president defiant, vowing earlier this week to “fight” authorities seeking to question him.
Confrontation at Yoon’s Residence
CIO investigators including senior prosecutor Lee Dae-hwan were earlier let through heavy security barricades to enter the residence to try to execute their warrant and detain Yoon.
Also Read: South Korea Court Begins Yoon Impeachment Review
According to an official from Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, soldiers from the Presidential Security Service engaged in a “confrontation with the CIO at the presidential residence, as reported by AFP.
Yoon’s security service — which still protects him as the country’s sitting head of state — has previously thwarted attempted police raids of the presidential office.
Yoon has disregarded three rounds of summons from investigators, leading them to seek the warrant.
