South Korea: Authorities insist on arrest of President Yoon

South Korea’s Anti-Corruption Agency (CIO) has asked police to carry out the arrest of suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol. After several attempts, investigators were unable to take Yoon into custody on his own initiative. It is still unclear whether the police will comply with the CIO’s request. “We are conducting a legal review internally,” a police official told Yonhap News Agency.

Most recently, on Friday, dozens of investigators, led by the CIO, tried for more than five and a half hours to arrest Yoon in order to question him in the case surrounding the brief imposition of martial law in early December. However, around 200 members of the army and security services blocked the authorities on the grounds of the presidential residence. For security reasons, investigators from the anti-corruption agency ultimately called off the arrest attempt.

The arrest warrant against Yoon, issued last Sunday by a Seoul district court, expires on Monday at midnight (local time). A few hours before the deadline, according to Yonhap, the CIO announced that it would apply for an extension of the arrest warrant.

The background is investigations against Yoon after he briefly declared martial law on December 3rd in a budget dispute with the opposition. Parliament later voted to remove him from office. The Constitutional Court is currently reviewing this decision. The current Finance Minister and Vice Prime Minister Choi Sang Mok is temporarily in charge of state affairs.

The allegations against Yoon are abuse of power and sedition. Before the attempted arrest, he had ignored three summonses from the Office for Corruption Investigation. She finally successfully applied to a court for his arrest.