Thousands of South Koreans return to the streets on Saturday for a new weekend of demonstrations in favor and against deposed President Yoon Suk Yeol, still threatened with arrest due to his short-lived martial law in early December.
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January 11, 2025 – 09:22
(Keystone-ATS) The former star prosecutor escaped for the first time from investigators who came with an arrest warrant to seize him on January 3, exactly one month after his coup was quickly thwarted by the deputies.
Under negative temperatures, his supporters are once again calling for the annulment of his dismissal, adopted in the National Assembly on December 14. The opposite camp demands his immediate detention.
“Despite our efforts, he continues to evade his responsibilities and the police as well as the IOC (the agency leading the investigations against him, editor’s note) have truly failed to act decisively,” deplores Kim Min-ji, anti-Yoon 25 years old.
“He is someone who was elected by the people and who represents our country. Saving Yoon is the path to the salvation of our nation,” said Su Yo-hahn, a 71-year-old supporter.
Many of Yoon Suk Yeol’s supporters have been camped outside his residence for days despite the freezing cold and were demonstrating even before the planned events began. The main mobilization started at 1:00 p.m. local time (5:00 a.m. in Switzerland).
Another rally, this time against Mr. Yoon, began at 2:30 p.m., before a separate march by opponents at 4:00 p.m. (8:00 a.m. Swiss).
New summons postponed
The former magistrate is the subject of several investigations, including one for “rebellion”, a crime theoretically punishable by the death penalty.
If he were arrested, it would be a first for a South Korean head of state. Because Yoon Suk Yeol, 64, has only been suspended since the deputies’ sanction and officially remains the president while waiting for the Constitutional Court to confirm or overturn Parliament’s decision. She has until mid-June to do this.
On their first try, the investigators who showed up at his home to arrest him were held in check by some 200 agents and soldiers from his guard.
But they obtained a new arrest warrant and reached a deal with police, who said they would apprehend any obstructing security next time.
The head of the Presidential Security Service (PSS), Park Chong-jun, resigned on Friday.
His interim successor, Kim Seong-hun, rejected a third police summons on Saturday, according to South Korean media. The PSS said in a statement that Mr. Kim could not leave his post, “even for a moment.”
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