Investigators leading investigations in South Korea into the declaration of martial law by conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol have suffered a new snub. Despite a formal arrest warrant, prosecutors from the Senior Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) had to give up on arresting Mr. Yoon in the early morning of Friday, January 3, a month to the day , after his unsuccessful attempt to impose martial law. The presidential security services prohibited them from entering the residence.
After a face-to-face meeting of almost five hours, the IOC withdrew. “It was impossible to execute the arrest warrant in the context of the ongoing confrontation”explained the prosecutors, moreover “concerned about staff safety” and who “regret the attitude of the suspect who did not respond to the legal procedure”.
The blockage sparked a reaction from the ruling People's Power Party (PPP), whose vice-president, Kwon Young-se, described the IOC's intervention as “very bad”. Mr. Kwon recalled that President “don’t go running away” and that he “there is no longer any risk of destruction of evidence, because the investigation has already progressed well”. Kwon Seong-dong, chairman of the PPP parliamentary group, urged investigators to refrain “any unreasonable attempt to arrest the sitting president” due to “risk of confrontation”.
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