Officials from the Corruption Investigation Office were allowed to enter Yoon’s residence in Seoul to arrest the doomed leader. If Yoon is detained in the ongoing standoff, he would become the first sitting president of South Korea to be arrested
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South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. File image/ Reuters
South Korean law enforcement officials entered the presidential residence on Friday in an attempt to execute the arrest warrant against the country’s impeached President Yoon Suk-Yeol. Officials from the Corruption Investigation Office were allowed to enter Yoon’s residence in Seoul to arrest the doomed leader. According to South Korean news outlet Yonhap, the investigators met with some resistance from Yoon’s supporters.
On Friday, the investigators released a statement announcing that they are executing the arrest warrant. “The execution of the arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol has begun,” the office said. If Yoon is detained in the ongoing standoff, he would become the first sitting president of South Korea to be arrested. After the execution of the warrant, the investigators will have 48 hours to investigate him and either request a warrant for his formal arrest or release him, Yonhap reported.
The standoff took place a month after the South Korean National Assembly impeached Yoon, following the botched execution of martial law across the country. The authorities have already arrested Yoon’s defence minister, police chief and several top military commanders over their roles in the martial law declaration.
Why is Yoon being arrested?
Apart from the impeachment proceedings, Yoon faces allegations of stirring an insurrection during the short-lived marital law. Yoon rattled the county after he declared martial law on December 3. At that time he said that the move aimed to root out “anti-state, pro-North Korean forces – a reference to opposition MPs in the national assembly.”
However, he did not provide evidence to support his claims which prompted backlash from both the ruling and the opposition lawmakers. Yoon was eventually forced to lift the order six hours later after members of the national assembly stormed into the South Korean parliament to vote down the law.
Soon after the martial law was lifted, investigators began their attempt to take Yoon to court over the matter. According to Yonhap, the impeached South Korean president is currently holed up inside his residence in Seoul, as of 8:15 am (local time). The warrant came after Yoon ignored multiple court summons in the case.
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