Thousands of South Korean protesters braved a snowstorm today over suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol who was still resisting arrest over a failed martial law bid less than 48 hours before the warrant expired.
Mr Yoon plunged the country into political chaos last month with the bungled martial law declaration and has since holed up in the presidential residence, surrounded by hundreds of loyal security officers resisting arrest efforts.
Yesterday, thousands descended on his residence and major roads in Seoul a day after a failed arrest attempt – with one camp demanding Mr Yoon’s arrest while the other calling for his impeachment to be declared invalid.
Pro-Yoon supporters massed again in front of his home Sunday despite bitter snow conditions hammering the capital overnight that left it under a white blanket, while an anti-Yoon rally was slated for 2pm local time (5am Irish time).
The rallies in the cold come as Mr Yoon this week said he was watching protests in support of his rule on a YouTube livestream, pledging to “fight” those trying to question his short-lived power grab.
The suspended leader faces criminal charges of insurrection, one of a few crimes not subject to presidential immunity, meaning he could be sentenced to prison or, at worst, the death penalty.
If the warrant is executed, Mr Yoon would become the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested.
Blinken wades in
The country’s opposition Democratic Party called for the dissolution of the security service protecting Yoon after investigators met a wall of hundreds of security forces preventing access to him.
“The Presidential Security Service has violated the constitution, effectively positioning itself as a force of insurrection,” floor leader Park Chan-dae told parliament.
The Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), probing the martial law declaration, and the opposition urged acting president Choi Sang-mok – in office for just a week and a party colleague of Mr Yoon – to order the presidential security service to cooperate.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Seoul later and is expected to delicately encourage continuity with the policies, but not tactics, of the impeached president.
Read more: South Korea’s month of political chaos
Mr Yoon’s lawyers decried Friday’s arrest attempt as “unlawful and invalid”, and vowed to take legal action.
In scenes of high drama, Mr Yoon’s guards and military troops shielded him from investigators who eventually called off Friday’s arrest citing safety concerns.
The Constitutional Court slated 14 January for the start of Mr Yoon’s impeachment trial, which if he does not attend would continue in his absence.
South Korea’s Constitutional Court has up to 180 days to determine whether to dismiss Mr Yoon as president or restore his powers.
Until then, while suspended, Mr Yoon holds the title of president.
Former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye never appeared for their impeachment trials.