The Korean police try to prevent the pro and anti-Yoon from fighting physically.
AFP
Hundreds of South Korean protesters clashed Thursday outside the ousted president’s official residence in Seoul, some demanding his immediate detention and others calling for protection against the threat of arrest.
Under an arrest warrant, Yoon Suk-yeol, 64, remains holed up in his residence, vowing to “fight until the end” against the authorities who seek to question him over his failed attempt to impose martial law.
Since his December 3 coup, Yoon has shown no regrets and his systematic refusal to submit to questions from investigators has raised fears that an attempted arrest could degenerate into violence, further aggravating the deep crisis the fourth is going through. Asian economy. Hundreds of Yoon’s loyal supporters, including radical-right YouTubers and evangelical Christian leaders, gathered outside his residence in Seoul, facing anti-Yoon protesters and riot police.
A woman threw herself in front of a police bus, her arms outstretched over the windshield. Other supporters of the ousted president lay down in the street, eyes closed and arms crossed, when police tried to dislodge them.
“Stop injustice”
“Invalid impeachment!” protesters shouted while waving South Korean flags and red light sticks. “Yoon Suk-yeol, Yoon Suk-yeol, we protect you! We protect you!”, we could also hear. Dozens of people broadcast footage of these protests live on YouTube, journalists observed.
On Wednesday, Yoon sent a message to his most radical supporters outside his residence, telling them he was watching them on YouTube and urging them to help him “defend democracy” and “fight to the end.” But Yoon supporters like Kim Sang-bae, 63, said they would not leave the area, determined to “stop the injustice” of arresting a sitting president – a first in the history of South Korea. The arrest warrant was illegal, Yoon’s lawyers argued, and his security team refused to comply with previously issued search warrants.
Two determined camps
The president himself ignored the summons of the Corruption Investigation Bureau (BEC) three times, prompting investigators to issue an arrest warrant. Nearby, hundreds of anti-Yoon protesters staged a rival rally, singing the national anthem as dozens of riot police struggled to separate the two rival camps.
The anti-Yoon were “hit on the head and attacked several times” by the opposing camp while they tried to hold a press conference, according to one of them, Bae Hoon, 46. “I had the feeling that if we had stayed five minutes longer, a serious incident would have occurred,” Bae added, adding that the police had tried to intervene, but were outnumbered.
Yoon must await the Constitutional Court’s final decision on his impeachment, and faces prison time or even the death penalty on the insurrection charges.
(afp/rk)
