Investigators in South Korea were reportedly involved in a standoff with a military unit inside the presidential residence as they attempted to arrest the country’s suspended leader Yoon Suk Yeol, weeks after his botched attempt to declare martial law.
Officials from the Corruption Investigation Office were let through heavy security to enter Yoon’s residence in Seoul on Friday morning, while his supporters confronted police outside.
Investigators released a statement saying they have started executing the arrest warrant. “The execution of the arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol has begun,” the office said.
If he is detained, Yoon, who was impeached by parliament last month, would become the first sitting president to be arrested. The anti-corruption agency would then have 48 hours to investigate him and either request a warrant for his formal arrest or release him.
Yoon’s defence minister, police chief and several top military commanders have already been arrested over their roles in the martial law declaration.
While the country’s constitutional court decides whether to uphold the impeachment vote – a move that would trigger an election for a new president – Yoon is facing allegations of insurrection over his short-lived martial law edict.
Yoon declared martial law on 3 December in an attempt to root out what he described as anti-state, pro-North Korean forces – a reference to opposition MPs in the national assembly. He did not provide any evidence for those claims, however.
He was forced to lift the order six hours later after lawmakers forced their way past troops into the parliament building to vote it down.
Investigators began their attempt to arrest Yoon, who has been holed up inside his residence in Seoul, at about 8.15am on Friday, according to media reports.
The criminal allegations against Yoon, an ultra conservative whose two and a half years in office have been marred by scandal and policy gridlock, are serious.
Insurrection is one of the few crimes from which South Korean presidents do not have immunity, and comes with penalties that can include life imprisonment or even the death penalty.
Tensions have been rising outside Yoon’s residence since a court issued a warrant to detain Yoon early this week after he ignored a summons for questioning.
The broadcaster YTN reported that 2,800 police had been mobilised in the area as Yoon’s supporters were expected to try to block investigators from executing the warrant, which was due to expire on Monday. There were no immediate reports of clashes with protesters.
It was unclear exactly how police would make the arrest and whether they would be blocked by members of the presidential security service. Yoon’s security detail has previously prevented police from searching Yoon’s office and residence.
About 100 protesters had gathered near Yoon’s residence before dawn, after local media reports suggested authorities were about to attempt top execute the warrant.
“We have to block them with our lives,” one was heard saying to fellow demonstrators. About a dozen protesters tried to block a group of police officers at the entrance to a pedestrian overpass.
Yoon had previously told supporters in a letter he would “fight until the end”.
“I am watching on YouTube live all the hard work you are doing,” he wrote late on Wednesday to the hundreds of supporters who had gathered near his official residence to protest against the investigation into him.
“I will fight until the end to protect this country together with you,” he said in the letter, a photo capture of which was sent to the media by Seok Dong-hyeon, a lawyer advising Yoon.
The warrant for Yoon’s arrest and a search of his office and residence was issued after he defied repeated summons by investigators to appear for questioning in the criminal investigation separate from the constitutional court trial.
Yoon sent shock waves through the country with a late-night announcement on 3 December that he was imposing martial law to overcome political deadlock and root out “anti-state forces”.
Within hours, however, 190 lawmakers had defied the cordons of troops and police to vote against Yoon’s order. About six hours after his initial decree, Yoon rescinded it.
He later issued a defiant defence of his decision, describing it as a legitimate “act of governance”. He again accused his domestic political opponents as having North Korean sympathies and made uncorroborated claims of election tampering. While Yoon won the last presidential election, the opposition Democratic party control’s the 300-seat national assembly.
Yoon has been isolated since he was impeached and suspended from power on 14 December.
A second constitutional court hearing in the impeachment case, which is separate from the criminal investigation, was scheduled for later on Friday.