South Korean Agency Asks Police To Take Over Efforts To Detain Impeached President | rssama.com

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s anti-corruption agency has requested that constabulary return complete efforts to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol aft its investigators grounded to bring him to custody pursuing a standoff pinch nan statesmanlike information work past week.

The agency and constabulary confirmed nan chat connected Monday, hours earlier nan one-week warrant for Yoon’s detention was to expire.

Yoon has described his powerfulness drawback arsenic a basal enactment of governance against a wide guidance bogging down his schedule pinch its legislative mostly and has vowed to “fight to nan end” against efforts to oust him. While martial rule lasted only respective hours, it group disconnected turmoil that has shaken nan country’s politics, diplomacy and financial markets for weeks and exposed nan fragility of South Korea’s populist while nine is profoundly polarized.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials will apt activity a caller tribunal warrant to widen nan model for Yoon’s detention, according to police, which said it was internally reviewing nan agency’s request. It wasn’t instantly clear whether nan anti-corruption agency will make different effort to detain Yoon connected Monday earlier nan deadline expires astatine midnight.

The anti-corruption agency has faced questions astir its competence aft failing to detain Yoon connected Friday, and constabulary person nan resources to perchance make a much forceful effort to detain him.

Yoon’s ineligible squad claimed successful a connection that nan agency’s move to delegate execution of nan detainment warrant to constabulary is illegal, saying there’s nary ineligible grounds for it to delegate definite parts of an investigation process to different agency. Yoon’s lawyers had submitted an objection to nan warrants against nan president connected Thursday, but nan Seoul Western District Court dismissed nan situation connected Sunday.

Yoon’s lawyers besides connected Monday revenge complaints pinch nationalist prosecutors against nan anti-corruption agency’s main prosecutor, Oh Dong-woon, and six different anti-corruption and constabulary officers for orchestrating Friday’s detainment attempt, which they declare was illegal.

The lawyers besides revenge complaints against nan country’s acting nationalist constabulary chief, nan acting defense curate and 2 Seoul constabulary officials for ignoring nan statesmanlike information service’s petition to supply further forces to artifact nan detention attempt. The lawyers said they besides scheme to record complaints against immoderate 150 anti-corruption and constabulary investigators who were progressive successful Friday’s detention attempt.

The anti-corruption agency, which leads a associated investigation pinch constabulary and subject investigators, has been weighing charges of rebellion aft Yoon declared martial law and dispatched troops to situation nan National Assembly. Lawmakers who managed to get past nan blockade voted to assistance martial rule hours later.

Yoon’s statesmanlike powers were suspended aft nan opposition-dominated National Assembly voted to impeach him connected Dec. 14, accusing him of rebellion, and his destiny now lies pinch nan Constitutional Court, which has begun deliberations connected whether to formally region Yoon from agency aliases reinstate him.

After getting astir a subject portion guarding nan residence’s grounds, nan agency’s investigators and constabulary were capable to attack wrong 200 meters (about 218 yards) of Yoon’s residential building but were stopped by a barricade comprising astir 10 vehicles and astir 200 members of nan statesmanlike information forces and troops. The agency said it wasn’t capable to visually corroborate whether Yoon was wrong nan residence.

The agency has urged nan country’s acting leader, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, to instruct nan statesmanlike information work to comply pinch their execution of nan detainment warrant. Choi has yet to publically remark connected nan issue.

In a video connection connected Sunday, Park Jong-joon, main of nan statesmanlike information service, deed backmost against disapproval that his statement has go Yoon’s backstage army, saying it has ineligible obligations to protect nan incumbent president. Park said he instructed his members to not usage unit during Friday’s standoff and called for nan anti-corruption agency and constabulary to alteration their approach.

Park and his lawman defied summonses connected Saturday from police, who planned to mobility them complete nan suspected obstruction of charismatic work pursuing Friday’s events. Staff from nan statesmanlike information work were seen installing barbed ligament adjacent nan gross and on nan hills starring up to Yoon’s residence complete nan weekend, perchance successful mentation for different detention attempt.

Yoon’s lawyers based on nan detention and hunt warrants against nan president cannot beryllium enforced astatine his residence owed to a rule that protects locations perchance linked to subject secrets from hunt without nan consent of nan personification successful complaint — which would beryllium Yoon. They besides reason nan anti-corruption agency lacks nan ineligible authority to analyse rebellion charges.

Hundreds of South Koreans rallied adjacent Yoon’s residence for hours into early Monday, wrapping themselves successful silver-coated mats against nan freezing temperatures. It was their 2nd consecutive nighttime of protests, pinch demonstrators calling for his ouster and arrest.

Protesters demanding nan apprehension of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol be a rally adjacent nan statesmanlike residence successful Seoul, South Korea, connected Jan. 6, 2025.

Ahn Young-joon via Associated Press