South Korea’s Yoon Suk Yeol resists arrest over martial law bid

Yoon Suk Yeol has gone to ground as members of his security team block police from entering the presidential palace in a dramatic standoff.

Participants wave US & South Korean flags during a rally to support impeached South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol near the presidential residence in Seoul. Picture: AFP.

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has resisted arrest for a third day over his failed martial law bid, going to ground as members of his security team block police from the presidential palace.

The embattled leader issued the bungled declaration on December 3 that led to his impeachment and has left him facing arrest, imprisonment or, at worst, the death penalty.

Supporters and opponents of Mr Yoon have since camped outside his presidential residence, while members of his security team are preventing attempted police raids in a dramatic standoff.

Mr Yoon remains unrepentant as the crisis has rolled on, issuing a defiant message to his base days before a warrant expires on January 6.

“The Republic of Korea is currently in danger due to internal and external forces threatening its sovereignty, and the activities of anti-state elements,” he said in a statement passed around to protesters, his lawyer Yoon Kab-keun confirmed to AFP.

“I vow to fight alongside you to the very end to protect this nation,” he added, saying he was watching the hundreds-strong protest Wednesday evening on a YouTube live stream.

The impeached leader remains in Seoul, the capital, the lawyer confirmed to AFP. Opposition politicians were quick to condemn his message as inflammatory, with Democratic Party spokesperson Jo Seoung-lae calling him “delusional” and accusing him of trying to incite clashes.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s rally near the presidential residence. Picture: Getty Images.

Mr Yoon’s legal team has filed for an injunction to block the warrant and has claimed that the arrest order was “an unlawful and invalid act”.

But Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) chief Oh Dong-woon has vowed that the warrant will be executed by its deadline of January 6, and warned that anyone trying to block authorities from arresting Mr Yoon could themselves face prosecution.

South Korean officials have previously failed to execute arrest warrants for politicians – in 2000 and 2004 – due to party members and supporters blocking police for the seven-day period the warrant was valid.

Discussions between prosecutors and police are taking place in the background of a political crisis that initially saw the country briefly lurch back to the dark days of military rule.

But the martial law order – which he said was aimed at eliminating “anti-state elements” – only lasted a few hours.

Heavily armed troops stormed the building, scaling fences, smashing windows and landing by helicopter, but Mr Yoon was quickly forced into a U-turn after a night of protests.

He was then stripped of his presidential duties by parliament and now faces criminal charges of insurrection.

Mr Yoon has since refused summonses for questioning three times and doubled down on claims the opposition was in league with South Korea’s communist enemies.

In the wake of his refusal, supporters have raced to Seoul to support him. As night fell on Wednesday, pro-Yoon protesters spewed vitriol at police while waving glowsticks and anti-impeachment placards.

A constitutional court will rule whether to uphold Mr Yoon’s impeachment. The turmoil deepened late last week when his replacement, Han Duck-soo, was also impeached by parliament for failing to sign bills for investigations into his predecessor.

Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok has been installed as acting president and pledged to do all he can to end the political upheaval.

He has since decided to appoint two new judges to the constitutional court hearing Mr Yoon’s impeachment – meeting a key demand of the opposition, but branded an overstepping of his powers by Yoon’s staff.

Mr Choi took office on Friday and found himself immediately thrust into handling a disaster, after a Jeju Air plane crashed on Sunday, claiming 179 lives.

AFP