The anti-corruption service responsible for investigating martial law in South Korea announced Monday that it would ask the courts for additional time to arrest deposed President Yoon Suk-yeol, holed up in his residence in Seoul, after having been prevented from doing so on Friday by the leader’s bodyguards.
The arrest warrant issued on December 31 by a Seoul court expires Monday at midnight local time. We plan to request an extension today, which requires stating the reasons for exceeding the standard seven-day deadline.
Deputy Director of the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), Lee Jae-seung, said Monday morning at a press briefing.
The CIO asked the police to take charge of this arrest given its expertise in executing arrest warrants
he added. Police did not immediately respond to this request.
Friday, investigators CIO supported by police officers entered the president’s residence to apprehend him. But they came up against an army unit and agents of the Presidential Security Service (PSS) who were twice as numerous as them and had retreated, empty-handed, after six hours of tense face-to-face confrontation. .
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Agents from the Senior Corruption Investigation Bureau arrived at Yoon Suk-yeol’s presidential residence on Friday morning.
Photo : Reuters / Kim Hong-Ji
Mr. Lee also indicated that the CIO sent a letter to Acting President Choi Sang-mok on Saturday to demand cooperation from the Presidential Security Service regarding the mandate
.
But we did not receive a response
he lamented.
Former star prosecutor elected in 2022, Yoon Suk-yeol, was dismissed by the National Assembly on December 14. He is the subject of an investigation for rebellion
a crime punishable by death, for having introduced martial law by surprise on December 3 and sending the army to parliament to muzzle it, before backing down shortly after under pressure from deputies and thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators .
Like every day since December 31, hundreds of unconditional supporters of Mr. Yoon were present Monday morning, in the mist, near the home of the deposed president, ready to do battle in the event of a new arrest attempt by the CIO and monitored by numerous police officers, saw journalists from Agence France-Presse on site.
The Presidential Security Service will protect the president, and we will protect the Presidential Security Service until midnight. If they get another arrest warrant, we’ll come back.
Around thirty deputies from the People’s Power Party (PPP), Mr. Yoon’s right-wing party, arrived at dawn at the presidential residence, near which around fifty detractors of the deposed president were also demonstrating.
The CIO is one of the most incompetent agencies I have ever seen. I’ve been here longer than CIO. It doesn’t make sense that they can’t do it. They must stop it immediately
says one of these demonstrators, Kim Ah-young, in her thirties.
This psychodrama takes place at a time when American Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Seoul, the first stop on a farewell tour which will also take him to Japan and France. His schedule does not include any meeting with Mr. Yoon.
Arrest warrant found invalid and illegal
Mr. Yoon’s lawyers argue that the arrest warrant is invalid and illegal
. Their appeal against the mandate was rejected by a Seoul court, but they indicated their intention to appeal.
The head of the Presidential Security Service, Park Jong-jun, invoked this argument on Sunday to justify his refusal to allow Mr. Yoon to be arrested.
The execution of an arrest warrant whose procedural and legal regularity is the subject of disputes compromises the fundamental mission of the PSSwhich is to ensure the absolute security of the president. Responding to such a situation would mean abandoning our duty
he wrote in a statement on Sunday, as Mr. Yoon’s detractors accuse his service of having become a private militia
of the president.
On Sunday, one of the lawyers of the deposed president, Yoon Kab-keun, also announced the filing of a complaint against the head of the CIO.
South Korea’s Constitutional Court, which has until mid-June to confirm or overturn Mr. Yoon’s impeachment passed by parliament on December 14, announced that hearings would begin on January 14. In the meantime, Mr. Yoon, suspended, officially remains the country’s president.
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