Clashes over arrest warrant for Yoon threaten to exacerbate national turmoil
In South Korea, political turmoil over suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol, who attempted a short-lived imposition of martial law that resulted in his impeachment, deepened over the weekend after the state anti-corruption agency aborted its bid to detain him.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials on Friday sought to execute its warrant to arrest Yoon over his failed martial law bid on Dec. 3. But the CIO faced a standoff with Yoon's Presidential Security Service officials and soldiers that lasted for five and a half hours, with some 200 guards forming a human wall to block entry to the presidential residence.
The PSS threatened to take legal action against “unauthorized trespassing” in the presidential residence on Friday. The move materialized Sunday when Yoon’s legal team announced a plan to file suits against some 150 people, including high-ranking officials at the CIO, police and Defense Ministry, in connection with the execution of the arrest warrant.
On Saturday, police requested that two top officials of the Presidential Security Service appear for questioning for allegedly obstructing special official duties over the CIO’s attempt to detain Yoon. The CIO also repeated its call on acting President Choi Sang-mok to instruct the presidential security team to cooperate on its execution of the arrest warrant.
It is the first case in which an arrest warrant has been issued for a current president -- as the Constitutional Court is yet to hand down its verdict on whether Yoon’s impeachment will be upheld. It is also the first incident in which state agencies clashed with each other, leading to a legal fight.
Equally regrettable is that a deep social and political divide was demonstrated near Yoon’s residence in Seoul, where around 1,000 supporters staged a protest against the execution of the arrest warrant from early Friday. Thousands of protesters demanding the immediate arrest of Yoon also gathered Friday afternoon and Saturday, with many staying up all night calling for his arrest.
The unprecedented political crisis is expected to continue as the CIO or the police can apply for an arrest warrant again, as the current warrant issued against Yoon on charges of insurrection and abuse of power expires Monday.
Yoon is responsible for complicating the crisis. On Wednesday, Yoon vowed to “fight to the end” to protect the country in a personally signed message to his supporters who gathered in front of the presidential residence. In the message, Yoon also attempted to divide the nation into either “patriotic citizens” or “those compromising the country's sovereignty and anti-state forces.”
Yoon, a former prosecutor general, has long claimed the importance of the rule of law, a stance that had earlier catapulted him to the presidency. However, his recent actions contradict his earlier statements. Following his botched imposition of martial law, Yoon had pledged “not to evade legal and political responsibility.” That promise now rings hollow as he leans on his most extreme supporters rather than the law. His past comments that there should be no exceptions in investigations, trials or the application of the law now appear to be empty rhetoric.
Of course, whether the arrest warrant is necessary and valid for a sitting president is disputed. The CIO argued that Yoon did not respond to its repeated demand to show up for questioning and that it had sufficient reasons to issue the warrant. But Yoon’s legal team argued that the CIO has no investigative authority related to the insurrection charges, claiming that both the warrant request and its issuance are illegal and invalid.
The international media have been closely following the latest standoff over Yoon’s arrest, reporting on the escalating political instability in Korea. At a moment when national stability is urgently needed in the aftermath of the failed martial law decree and Yoon’s impeachment, Yoon’s defiance and the clashes between state agencies risk amplifying uncertainty for the nation.
