SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s anti-corruption agency says impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol has been detained hours after the hundreds of the agency’s investigators and police officers arrived at his presidential compound to apprehend him.
A series of black SUVs, some equipped with sirens, were seen leaving the presidential compound with police escorts.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Hundreds of law enforcement officers entered the residential compound of South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol early Wednesday in their second attempt to detain him over his imposition of martial law last month.
Investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials were negotiating with the president’s attorneys, and Yoon had not been apprehended as of midmorning.
A lawyer on Yoon’s legal team said the president agreed to be investigated at the anti-corruption agency on Wednesday and was also preparing a public statement. He said Yoon was willing to travel to the agency in the nearby city of Gwacheon once its investigators and police officers retreat from his residence and security details are in place. But it was unclear whether the agency would accept the offer for voluntary questioning instead of bringing him to custody.
The officers seemingly encountered no meaningful resistance from presidential security forces as they approached Yoon’s residence and there were no immediate reports of clashes.
More than a thousand anti-corruption investigators and police officers could be deployed in the operation to apprehend Yoon, who has been holed up in the Hannam-dong residence in the capital, Seoul, for weeks while vowing to “fight to the end” against the efforts to oust him.
Yoon has justified his declaration of martial law Dec. 3 as a legitimate act of governance against an “anti-state” opposition employing its legislative majority to thwart his agenda.
Yoon’s lawyers were trying to persuade investigators not to execute the detention warrant, saying the president would voluntarily appear for questioning, but the agency told reporters they weren’t immediately considering that option.
The anti-corruption agency is leading a joint investigation with police and the military over whether Yoon’s martial law declaration amounted to an attempted rebellion and sought to bring him into custody after he ignored several summons for questioning. They have pledged more forceful measures to detain him after the presidential security service blocked their initial efforts on Jan. 3.
The scene at the compound
Following an hourslong standoff at the compound’s gate, anti-corruption investigators and police officers were seen moving up the hilly compound. Police officers were earlier seen using ladders to climb over rows of buses placed by the presidential security service near the compound’s entrance.
Anti-corruption investigators and police later arrived in front of a metal gate with a gold presidential mark that’s near Yoon’s residential building. Some officers were seen entering a security door on the side of the metal gate, joined by one of Yoon’s lawyers and his chief of staff. The presidential security service later removed a bus and other vehicles that had been parked tightly inside the gate as a barricade.
Seok Dong-hyeon, a lawyer for Yoon, said attorneys at the residence were negotiating with the anti-corruption agency over the possibility the president could voluntarily appear for questioning.
It was unclear whether law enforcement would accept the offer from Yoon’s lawyers, as the president previously evaded multiple requests to appear for questioning before the agency sought court warrants for his detention.
Despite a court warrant for Yoon’s detention, the presidential security service has insisted it’s obligated to protect the impeached president and has fortified the compound with barbed wire and rows of buses blocking paths.
If investigators manage to detain Yoon Suk Yeol, they will likely ask a court for permission to make a formal arrest. Otherwise, he will be released after 48 hours.
The preparations and the concerns
As tensions escalated, South Korea’s acting leader, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, issued a statement early Wednesday urging law enforcement and the presidential security service to ensure there are no “physical clashes.”
The liberal opposition Democratic Party, which drove a legislative campaign that led to Yoon’s impeachment on Dec. 14, issued a statement calling for the presidential security service to stand down and cooperate with Yoon’s detention. Lawmakers from Yoon’s People Power Party held a rally near the presidential residence, decrying the efforts to detain him as unlawful.
The National Police Agency has convened multiple meetings of field commanders in Seoul and nearby Gyeonggi province in recent days to plan their detainment efforts, and the size of those forces fueled speculation that more than a thousand officers could be deployed in a possible multiday operation. The agency and police have openly warned that presidential bodyguards obstructing the execution of the warrant could be arrested.
Yoon’s lawyers said the presidential security service will continue to provide security for Yoon and claimed that the detainment warrant issued by the Seoul Western District Court was invalid. They cited a law that protects locations potentially linked to military secrets from search without the consent of the person in charge — which would be Yoon. The court warrant for Yoon’s detainment is valid through Jan. 21.
Yoon’s supporters and critics have held competing protests near the residence — one side vowing to protect him, the other calling for his imprisonment — while thousands of police officers in yellow jackets closely monitored the tense situation.
What led to this
Yoon declared martial law and deployed troops around the National Assembly on Dec. 3. It lasted only hours before lawmakers managed to get through the blockade and vote to lift the measure.
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Yoon’s presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on Dec. 14, accusing him of rebellion. His fate now rests with the Constitutional Court, which has begun deliberating on whether to formally remove Yoon from office or reject the charges and reinstate him.
The Constitutional Court held its first formal hearing in the case on Tuesday, but the session lasted less than five minutes because Yoon refused to attend. The next hearing is set for Thursday, and the court will then proceed with the trial whether or not Yoon is there.