The Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) arrest team that wanted to arrest the suspended president was stopped in the official residence complex by a military unit and a little later by the presidential security service. This is what it reports South Korean news agency Yonhap. The arrest team has now withdrawn. The CIO said in a statement that it is “deeply regrettable” that Yoon did not cooperate in the arrest.
Yoon Suk-yeol has been holed up in his official residence in Seoul for days. On December 14, the president was nominated for impeachment by parliament and has since been suspended, although he formally remains in office. Outside the home, thousands of his supporters have gathered, forming a human chain. They want the suspension to be declared “reversed and invalid”. They have announced that they will hold another protest march at the president’s official residence on Friday.
The arrest team officially has until Monday to take the president into custody, when the current arrest warrant expires. Investigators must then apply for a new arrest warrant to continue detaining him.
Power grab
Yoon is suspected by the South Korean judiciary of having committed ‘rebellion’ by declaring a military state of emergency on December 3 and ordering the army to prevent a meeting of parliament, which has the right under the constitution to reverse the state of emergency. Because enough representatives nevertheless managed to reach the hall, Yoon’s grip on power was reversed within a few hours. If Yoon is found guilty, he could in theory receive the death penalty – although in practice it has not been carried out in South Korea for almost thirty years.
Yoon’s lawyer calls the arrest warrant for the suspended president “illegal and invalid.” He added that “legal action” would be taken.
Conspiracy theories
Earlier this week, Yoon Suk-yeol promised his supporters in a letter to “fight for our country until the end.” Supporters of the president formed a cordon around the complex in recent days after a judge in Seoul approved an arrest warrant for Yoon on New Year’s Day. Yoon had failed to show up for questioning three times as part of an investigation into his failed coup on December 3.
According to South Korean media, it is mainly older supporters of Yoon’s conservative People Power Party who are demonstrating. They promise to protect the president, like 74-year-old Park Shi-dong, who told the AFP news agency that he is “willing to fight to the death for democracy.”
Protesters allege that the National Assembly elections in April last year were rigged, in which the PPP suffered a major defeat. “They impeached the president because he tried to reveal the truth about election fraud,” one of the protesters, a dentist from the southern city of Busan, told AFP.
Such conspiracy theories are widely shared in right-wing circles in South Korea, especially on YouTube. Yoon himself also seems to believe in it. During his failed coup in early December, he sent soldiers not only to parliament, but also to the offices of the national electoral commission, where they had to look for evidence of alleged election fraud. In his letter to his supporters, he reiterated that he was fighting “anti-state forces” that threaten South Korea’s “sovereignty.” He wrote that he followed his supporters’ protests via YouTube livestreams.
They impeached the president because he tried to reveal the truth about election fraud
In addition to Yoon’s supporters, who, among other things, lay down on the road to block the passage of police cars, his opponents have also protested in the immediate area in recent days. Instead, they pushed for Yoon’s quick deposition and arrest. There were a few minor clashes between both camps.
Constitutional Court
Not only is Yoon at risk of criminal prosecution, the Constitutional Court is also considering his removal as president. Yoon’s removal requires the consent of six of the court’s judges, and because three of the nine seats were vacant, there was no room for dissenting judges. But on Thursday, two new judges appointed by acting President Choi Sang-mok on Tuesday were sworn in.
Choi’s predecessor as acting president, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, was impeached by parliament at the end of December because he refused to approve the appointment of three new judges as long as the PPP and the opposition disagreed. Choi appointed two more – under threat of new impeachment proceedings – but does not want to confirm the third appointment until both camps reach a compromise.
The Court has announced that it will handle the impeachment case against Yoon as a matter of urgency. That could take up to six months, but the Court is expected to rule before April 18, when the terms of two other judges expire. If the Court also rules that Yoon must resign, elections for a new president will follow within sixty days.