By admin 
Jan 03, 2025 03:15 IST
Yoon is under criminal investigation for his short-lived attempt at martial law on December 3.
Authorities were on their way to execute an arrest warrant against ousted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday, Yonhap news agency reported, when a crowd of protesters confronted police outside his residence and vowed to block any attempt.
FILE PHOTO: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers an address to the nation at the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, December 12, 2024. The presidential office/award ceremony via REUTERS EDITOR’S NOTE – THIS IMAGE IS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY / File photo (via REUTERS)
Yoon is under criminal investigation for his short-lived attempt at martial law on December 3. An arrest would be unprecedented for a sitting South Korean president.
Yonhap reported that officials from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), which heads a joint team of investigators including police and prosecutors, had left their headquarters to carry out the order.
Broadcaster YTN reported that around 2,800 police officers had been mobilized in preparation for the implementation of the order.
It was unclear exactly how police would carry out the arrest and whether the presidential security service, which has blocked investigators’ access to Yoon’s office and official residence with a search warrant, would try to stop the arrest.
About 100 protesters gathered near his residence in the early morning hours, amid local media reports that investigating authorities would soon try to execute an arrest warrant that was approved on Tuesday after Yoon refused a summons to appear.
“We have to block them with our lives,” one person was heard saying to others. About a dozen protesters tried to block a group of police officers at the entrance to a pedestrian overpass.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee, Eduardo Baptista and Josh Smith; Editing by Chris Reese and Sandra Maler)
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