South Korean investigators mount new bid to arrest impeached President Yoon
SEOUL — South Korean authorities investigating impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol attempted to enter his residence on Wednesday (Jan 15) morning in a new bid to arrest him over insurrection accusations related to his Dec 3 martial law declaration.
Video footage showed hundreds of police officers, some carrying ladders and wire cutters, marching up the road leading to his hillside villa, where Yoon has been holed up for weeks guarded by a small army of personal security.
As local news broadcasters reported that Yoon's detention may come soon, some minor scuffles broke out between tearful pro-Yoon protesters and police near the residence, according to a Reuters witness at the scene.
Police said they had deployed 3,200 officers to Yoon's residence to execute the arrest on Wednesday, where hundreds of pro-Yoon protesters and members of his People Power Party had also gathered before dawn in sub-zero temperatures.
A police spokesperson denied an earlier report by Yonhap News Agency that it had arrested the acting head of Yoon's presidential security service, which blocked a previous attempt to arrest the conservative leader on Jan 3.
Acting President Choi Sang-mok called for calm in a statement on Wednesday, urging for the need to avoid physical contact between state agencies.
"I will sternly hold those responsible if unfortunate events occur," he said.
Yoon's declaration of martial law stunned South Koreans and plunged one of Asia's most vibrant democracies into an unprecedented period of political turmoil.
The arrest warrant is the first ever issued against an incumbent South Korean president. Yoon's lawyers have argued the attempts to arrest him are illegal and designed to publicly humiliate him.
Separately, the