The Office of Investigation into Senior Corruption has still failed to arrest the deposed president, holed up in his home and protected by an army unit as well as agents of the Presidential Security Service (PSS).
The anti-corruption service responsible for investigating martial law in South Korea has until Monday evening to arrest deposed president Yoon Suk Yeol, holed up with his close guard in his residence in Seoul, in front of which hundreds of his supporters are camped.
The Senior Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) must execute before midnight (3:00 p.m. GMT) the arrest warrant issued on December 31 by a Seoul court against Mr. Yoon, accused of “rebellion” for having established by declared martial law on December 3 and sent the army to Parliament to muzzle it, before reversing course shortly after.
On Friday, IOC investigators and special police forces entered the president’s residence to apprehend him. But they came up against an army unit and agents of the Presidential Security Service (PSS) twice as many, and had retreated, empty-handed, after six hours of tense face-to-face. According to the Yonhap news agency, the IOC is preparing a new attempt on Monday. But the PSS leader warned that he would not let it happen.
Support from Yoon pros
Like every day since December 31, hundreds of unconditional supporters of Mr. Yoon are present Monday morning, in the mist, near the home of the deposed president, ready to fight in the event of a new arrest attempt and monitored by numerous police officers saw AFP journalists on site.
«The Presidential Security Service will protect the president, and we will protect the Presidential Security Service until midnight. If they get a new arrest warrant, we’ll be back», Says one of the organizers of the rally, Kim Soo-yong, 62 years old. 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 detractors of the deposed president were also demonstrating.
Antony Blinken in Seoul
«The IOC is one of the most incompetent agencies I have ever seen. I have been here longer than the IOC. 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 meetings with Mr. Yoon, but he will speak with Acting President and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok.
If investigators fail to seize Yoon Suk Yeol before the arrest warrant expires, they will be able to request another one, which will probably be granted for the same reasons as the first time, namely that the ousted president has three times ignored summons to appear for questioning before the IOC.
Arrest warrant ‘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 PSS, which 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, while Mr. Yoon’s detractors accuse his service of having become a “private militia» from 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 IOC. South Korea’s Constitutional Court, which has until mid-June to confirm or overturn the impeachment of Mr. Yoon voted 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.
