South Korea authorities seek to arrest Yoon at suspended leader’s residence

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

Yoon faces becoming the first sitting president to be detained in country’s history.

South Korean authorities have arrived at the residence of President Yoon Suk-yeol to arrest the impeached leader over his short-lived declaration of martial law.

Dozens of police and anticorruption investigators entered the gate of Yoon’s compound in Seoul early on Friday morning to execute a warrant for his arrest over his brief imposition of martial law on December 3, which plunged the East Asian nation into its deepest political crisis in decades.

“The execution of the arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol has begun,” the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials said in a statement.

It is unclear if Yoon, who is being investigated on suspicion of insurrection and abuse of power, will cooperate with authorities seeking to detain him.

If arrested, the conservative leader would be the first sitting president to be detained in South Korean history.

If found guilty of insurrection, he faces severe penalties, including life imprisonment and the death penalty.

Speculation about when and how authorities would take Yoon into custody has swirled since a Seoul court earlier this week granted prosecutors’ request for an arrest warrant.

Yoon Kap-keun, a lawyer for Yoon, on Friday reiterated earlier comments that the warrant was illegal and invalid, adding that “legal actions” would be taken in response to its execution.

Yoon’s legal team on Thursday sought an injunction to block the warrant at the country’s Constitutional Court, which is also currently deliberating whether to uphold Yoon’s impeachment or restore his presidential authority.

Yoon’s security detail has previously blocked investigators from executing several search warrants directed at the president.

In a defiant New Year’s message to supporters who have gathered outside his residence, Yoon pledged to “fight until the end to protect this country together with you.”

Braving freezing temperatures, thousands of Yoon’s supporters have rallied outside compounded in recent days to demand an end to the investigation and the reversal of his impeachment.

“President Yoon Suk Yeol will be protected by the people!” and “Illegal warrant is invalid” protestors chanted on Thursday.

Authorities have deployed about 2,700 police and 135 police buses in the area to prevent violence between pro- and anti-Yoon protestors, state-funded Yonhap Agency News reported.

Yoon, who served as the nation’s top prosecutor before entering politics, has been suspended from his duties since December 14, when the National Assembly voted 204-85 for his impeachment.

Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok has served as acting president since December 27, when the legislature voted to impeach Yoon’s initial successor, Han Duck-soo, over his refusal to immediately fill three vacancies on the Constitutional Court.

The court has up to six months to make its ruling, with at least six justices on the nine-member bench needed to uphold Yoon’s impeachment and remove him from office.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies