Impeachment trial of South Korea president Yoon Suk Yeol to start
Suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol receives a pay rise even as law enforcement authorities plan another attempt to arrest him.
Acting South Korean President Choi Sang-mok renewed his call for government agencies to avoid any clashes when trying to detain President Yoon Suk Yeol, hours before an impeachment trial is due to begin.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), which is investigating Mr Yoon for alleged insurrection, was on Tuesday preparing to execute a court-issued warrant against Mr Yoon, who remains inside his fortified compound amid an investigation into his ill-fated martial law declaration on December 3.
Mr Yoon suspended civilian rule, sending soldiers into parliament and plunging South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades. He was forced to backtrack hours later.
He has been impeached by lawmakers and is awaiting a final Constitutional Court ruling that could finalise his removal from office, while separately facing an insurrection probe with investigators seeking to detain him for questioning.
“All law enforcement actions must be conducted in a peaceful and restrained manner. Under no circumstances should violence be employed by any involved agencies,” Mr Choi said in a press release.
The plea for calm follows an earlier attempt to arrest Mr Yoon that resulted in a five-hour standoff with the Presidential Security Service (PSS).
The PSS heightened security at Mr Yoon’s residence by installing barbed wire, barricades and buses to block access to the compound in Seoul.
The CIO said it sent official letters to the defence ministry and the PSS on Sunday evening, asking for their co-operation while warning them of potential legal consequences in case they fail to comply.
“We request that the heads of relevant agencies pay special attention to maintaining order and preventing conflict,” Choi said.
It comes after confirmation that Mr Yoon would receive a scheduled pay rise, official documents showed on Monday.
Mr Yoon was awarded a modest salary increase, according to the civil servant salary table for 2025, even as he remains holed up in the presidential residence using his security detail to resist arrest.
The document from the Ministry of Personnel Management, seen by AFP on Monday, indicates Mr Yoon’s salary will rise to 262.6 million won ($290,400) – a three per cent raise compared with last year.
Mr Yoon is only suspended from duty because the impeachment motion is still being deliberated by the Constitutional Court, so he retains his status as president and will be able to receive his salary and security benefits.
His successor as acting president, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who was also impeached and is now suspended from office, will also receive a salary raise of three per cent to 203.5 million ($225,000).
“It makes my blood boil. He’s (Yoon) getting paid for doing nothing,” one user wrote in a post on social media platform X that quickly went viral.
Mr Yoon has refused to meet prosecutors and investigators probing his martial law declaration.
Investigators are preparing another arrest attempt.
Rival protests for and against Mr Yoon have been staged almost daily in the South Korean capital since the crisis began.
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