South Korean investigators are waiting on Tuesday for a court to issue them a new arrest warrant to try a second time to apprehend deposed President Yoon Suk Yeol, holed up in his residence in Seoul under the protection of his bodyguards.
The first arrest warrant, issued on December 31, expired on Monday at 3:00 p.m. GMT without the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) managing to seize Mr. Yoon for questioning.
On Friday, CIO investigators supported by police officers entered his residence. But they came up against around 200 soldiers and agents of the Presidential Security Service (PSS) and retreated, empty-handed, after six hours of a tense face-to-face.
Supporters of ousted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol demonstrate near his residence in Seoul, January 6, 2025 / Anthony WALLACE / AFP
Monday was marked by an argument between services, with the IOC wanting to entrust the police alone with the task of arresting Mr. Yoon, and the police responding that only the IOC was competent to do so.
Finally, the IOC recognized that it was up to it to apprehend the ex-prosecutor, and the police indicated that they would arrest the presidential bodyguards in case they obstructed the situation again. But the arrest warrant was about to expire when this deal was reached.
New query
The investigators “today refiled a petition with the Seoul West District Court to extend the arrest warrant against defendant Yoon”announced the IOC Monday evening.
He refused to specify how long he had requested for this mandate.
Supporters of ousted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol camp outside his residence in Seoul, January 6, 2025 / Philip FONG / AFP
The court had not yet announced its decision as of late Tuesday morning. IOC Deputy Director Lee Jae-seung told reporters the day before that the likelihood of the court rejecting the petition was “very weak”.
The IOC and the police are jointly investigating Yoon Suk Yeol’s attempt to impose martial law on December 3 and muzzle Parliament by sending in the army.
The deposed conservative president, whose political action was constantly hampered by a Parliament dominated by the opposition, had claimed to want to protect the country from “North Korean communist forces” et “eliminate elements hostile to the State”.
But he had to backtrack a few hours later, the deputies having managed to meet in a hemicycle surrounded by special forces to vote against martial law, while thousands of demonstrators gathered outside.
Legal battle
Mr. Yoon was impeached on December 14 by the National Assembly. He is also the subject of a complaint for “rebellion”a crime punishable by death, and “abuse of authority”punishable by five years in prison.
Mr. Yoon vowed last week to “beat to the end” against these accusations.
Buses block the entrance to President Yoon Suk Yeol’s residence in Seoul, January 6, 2025 / Jung Yeon-je / AFP
His lawyers dispute the legality of the arrest warrant and the jurisdiction of the IOC to investigate him. And hundreds of his supporters camped day and night at the foot of the hill where his residence is perched, ready to fight in the event of an attempted arrest.
In the absence of a new arrest warrant, however, the pro-Yoon crowd was much sparser on Tuesday morning, according to AFP journalists on site.
Yoon Suk Yeol officially remains the head of state, and is only suspended until the Constitutional Court confirms or overturns his dismissal voted by the deputies.
The Court has until mid-June to rule and has set January 14 as the start of the impeachment trial, which in the absence of Mr. Yoon will continue without him. If it validates the impeachment, a snap presidential election will take place within two months.