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South Korea’s anti-graft agency will seek to extend an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol, as pressure mounted on law enforcement to resolve the country’s escalating political crisis.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) said on Monday that it would hand over power to execute the warrant, which was due to expire at midnight, to the police. The move came after the agency failed on Friday to detain Yoon after an hours-long stand-off at his residence with his security service.
The president was suspended from his duties last month following a failed bid to impose martial law and his subsequent impeachment by parliament on December 14.
Law enforcement authorities are seeking Yoon’s arrest as part of an investigation into alleged treason and abuse of power. The arrest warrant, issued on December 31, marked the first time such a step has been taken against an incumbent South Korean president.
South Korea’s police force said it would “jointly execute” the warrant under the CIO’s oversight. It also said it was considering arresting members of Yoon’s security force if they block another attempt to detain him.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the opposition Democratic party, urged South Korea’s acting president Choi Sang-mok to fire Yoon’s security chief. The CIO has also come under fire from the opposition over its failure to bring Yoon into custody.
The escalating political crisis came as US secretary of state Antony Blinken visited Seoul on Monday, where he met Choi and South Korea’s foreign minister Cho Tae-yul. Blinken expressed confidence in the resilience of South Korea’s democracy and Choi’s leadership, as well as the “enduring strength” of the two countries’ alliance.
South Korea was already bracing for possible turmoil in its relationship with the US under Donald Trump, including higher tariffs that could hit Seoul’s export-reliant economy. During his first term as president, Trump threatened to cancel a bilateral free trade agreement and remove American troops from the Korean peninsula unless Seoul paid more to support them.
North Korea on Monday also fired a mid-range ballistic missile off its east coast, further raising concerns that Pyongyang could take advantage of the political instability to move against its southern adversary. Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military was strengthening its defence posture in response.
About 30 ruling party lawmakers gathered outside Yoon’s residence on Monday to protect him from any renewed arrest attempt, while hundreds of South Koreans had rallied nearby over the weekend despite freezing weather, both in support of and against the president.
Yoon’s lawyers have argued that the anti-graft agency lacks the legal authority to investigate insurrection charges against the president, who has immunity from criminal prosecution but not for acts of treason. A Seoul court on Sunday dismissed their appeal against the arrest warrant.
It remains unclear when the police will mount another effort to arrest Yoon. The country’s Constitutional Court is set to make a decision by June on whether to uphold Yoon’s impeachment or reinstate him as president.