Top aide to impeached South Korean president pleads with investigators to halt detention efforts
Seoul, South Korea—— Top aides to impeached President Yoon Seok-yeol pleaded with law enforcement on Tuesday to abandon efforts to detain him over the imposition of martial law last month, as authorities prepared a second attempt to detain him.
Presidential chief of staff Jung Jin-seok said in a statement that Yoon could be questioned at a “third location” or at his residence, claiming anti-corruption agencies and police were trying to drag him away as if he were a member. “South American drug cartels.”
However, Yoon Kab-keun, one of the president's lawyers, said Chung released the information without consulting them and the legal team had no immediate plans to have the president questioned by investigators.
Yun Seok-yeol has not left his official residence in Seoul for weeks, and on January 3, presidential security services prevented dozens of investigators from detaining Yun after a nearly six-hour standoff.
The Office for the Investigation of Senior Officials' Corruption and the police promised to take stronger measures to detain Yun, while jointly investigating whether Yun's brief declaration of martial law on December 3 amounted to an attempted rebellion. The National Police has held multiple meetings of field commanders in recent days in Seoul and nearby Gyeonggi Province to plan detentions, and the size of the forces has fueled speculation that more than a thousand could be deployed in the multi-day operation. policeman. The agency and police publicly warned that presidential bodyguards who obstructed the execution of an arrest warrant could be arrested on the spot.
Anti-corruption agencies and police have yet to confirm when they will return to the presidential palace, which has been blocked with barbed wire and rows of vehicles. But Zheng said he understood D-Day to be Wednesday, without specifying what information he had.
Anti-corruption agencies and police officials met with representatives of the presidential security services on Tuesday morning for unspecified discussions about efforts to enforce Yin's detention order, the agency said. It's unclear whether they've reached some kind of compromise.
The country's acting leader, Vice Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, expressed concern on Monday about a possible conflict between authorities and the presidential security service, which insists it has an obligation to protect the president despite a court order to detain Yoon Eun-hye.
Anti-corruption agencies and police have “completed preparations for the siege,” Zhong said. “They were ready to tear down the walls, handcuff President Yoon Seok-yeol and forcibly remove him from his official residence in Hannam-dong,” he added, accusing investigators of trying to humiliate the president.
“Thousands of citizens waited all night in front of the presidential residence, vowing to protect the president. If police and citizens clash, unimaginable tragedy may occur.”
Thousands of anti-Yin and pro-Yin supporters have gathered daily for the past two weeks at rallies near Yoon's office in Seoul, anticipating another detention. Yoon's lawyers claim pictures of him being dragged out in handcuffs could spark a backlash from his supporters and trigger a “civil war” in a country deeply divided along ideological and generational lines.
Yin briefly declared martial law on December 3 and deployed troops to surround Congress, which lasted only a few hours before lawmakers managed to break through the blockade and vote to lift the measure.
His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated parliament voted on December 14 to impeach him and charge him with rebellion. His fate now depends on the Constitutional Court, which has begun deliberations on whether to formally remove Yoon Eun-hye or dismiss the charges and reinstate him.