“Concerns for the safety of on-site personnel led to the decision to halt the execution,” he added.
From superstar prosecutor to deposed president, Yoon Suk-yeol's descent into hell
Blocked by soldiers
A Joint Staff officer in Seoul told AFP that the IOC team had “entered into confrontation” with soldiers under the orders of the presidential security service. The latter for his part indicated to AFP that he had conducted “negotiations” with the IOC.
The presidential security service, which continues to protect Mr. Yoon as acting head of state, had already prevented several searches by investigators at Mr. Yoon's home in recent days.
Hastily arriving at the presidential residence on Friday morning, Mr. Yoon's team of lawyers once again denounced an “illegal and invalid” arrest warrant.
The IOC has until January 6 to execute the arrest warrant issued by a Seoul court at its request on Tuesday.
An arrest of Yoon Suk Yeol, who officially remains the head of state and is only suspended pending confirmation by the Constitutional Court of his dismissal by mid-June, would be unprecedented in the history of the South Korea.
Evangelists and YouTubers
Hundreds of Mr. Yoon's diehard supporters, including well-known far-right YouTubers and evangelical Christian preachers, camped near the presidential residence overnight from Thursday to Friday, with some holding all-night prayer sessions.
“Yoon Suk Yeol! Yoon Suk yeol!” they chanted while waving red light sticks, watched by the police in large numbers.
“We are gathered here today, ready to risk our lives,” Lee Hye-sook, 57, told AFP, accusing the opposition of “trying to transform our country into a socialist state similar to Korea of the North”.
Some 2,700 police officers, according to the South Korean agency Yonhap, were deployed in the area, after clashes between supporters and detractors of the deposed president on Thursday evening.
Yoon Suk Yeol stunned South Korea on the night of December 3 to 4 by imposing martial law and sending the army to Parliament to try to muzzle him, an episode that reminded the country of the dark hours of the military dictatorship .
He was forced to backtrack a few hours later, when MPs managed to enter Parliament and pass a motion demanding the lifting of martial law while their aides blocked the chamber doors with furniture and thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators gathered outside.
“Complete Wreck”
On Friday, prosecutors charged two senior military officials with “rebellion,” one of whom had briefly been named a martial law commander, Yonhap reported. Both are in detention.
The 64-year-old former star prosecutor has shown no contrition since his dismissal by Parliament on December 14, even vowing in a letter to his supporters to “fight until the end”.
“It's been a month since the country became a complete wreck due to the illegal declaration of martial law on December 3, but Mr. Yoon's message to his supporters shows that he has not the slightest sense of remorse or responsibility”, said Friday in an editorial in the major right-wing daily Dong-A Ilbo.
“The behavior of President Yoon, who relies on his most extremist supporters, is more than embarrassing. It has reached deplorable levels,” adds the newspaper. North Korea, until now stingy with comments on the crisis politics among its enemy in the South, described on Friday a situation of “chaos” in Seoul.
“An arrest warrant has been issued against the president, paralyzing state affairs and aggravating social and political chaos,” wrote the official KCNA agency.
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