By The Straits Times | Created at 2025-01-15 00:50:48 | Updated at 2025-01-18 13:11:03
3 days ago
SEOUL - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol faces the imminent threat of detention as a second attempt to execute a court warrant is carried out on Jan 15.
If the joint investigation team — comprising police, the Defence Ministry and prosecutors from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) — serves the warrant, he would become the first sitting president in South Korean history to be taken into custody.
The joint team previously summoned Mr Yoon three times for questioning over his role in declaring martial law on Dec 3, 2024, but he ignored all requests.
Their first attempt to detain him at his presidential residence in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on Jan 3 ended in failure after a six-hour stand-off with his security detail.
Since then, the authorities have reportedly changed strategy, increasing manpower, applying pressure on the presidential security team through questioning, and preparing for different scenarios to avoid another failure.
However, it remains uncertain whether they will succeed in detaining him this time.
Here are five key facts to know about the Jan 15 attempt to detain the President.
1,000 police officers
Police officers patrolling near the residence of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Jan 15.PHOTO: AFP
It has been reported that over 1,000 police officers will be involved in the attempt by CIO prosecutors to execute the warrant at the presidential residence.
The police will likely be split into two groups.
One will be dedicated to detaining Mr Yoon at the scene, while the other group will be tasked with handling the bodyguards of the Presidential Security Service (PSS) who resist the warrant execution, and if possible, arresting them for obstructing the team’s investigation.
The police and the CIO reportedly expect the stand-off to continue for up to three days and have urged staff to bring mobile battery chargers, extra sets of clothes, and even diapers.
In the team’s first attempt on Jan 3, there was a total of 150 police and CIO staff, who were outnumbered by the more than 200 PSS staff blocking their access to the presidential residence.
Chief of Staff’s proposal
The presidential office has claimed that the joint probe team’s attempt to execute the warrant poses a violent threat to the sitting President, saying it should stop treating the President “like (a member of) a drug cartel in South America”.
On Jan 14, Mr Yoon’s Chief of Staff Chung Jin-suk proposed that the investigators conduct their questioning of Mr Yoon at his official residence or somewhere outside the CIO headquarters in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi province, instead of bringing Mr Yoon into custody for questioning at the interrogation room located about 12km south of his residence.
“The presidential office is prepared to coordinate over the matter with police and the CIO,” Mr Chung said in a written statement.
Mr Yoon’s legal representatives stated that they were not consulted about such a proposal.
Mr Chung stressed that although Mr Yoon is now suspended from his role, he is still the head of state and the highest constitutional authority.
“I’m not asking for special treatment for President Yoon,” he said, adding all he asks is “the right enjoyed by all citizens in a liberal democracy to defend themselves”.
Armed conflict feared
Investigators from the police and the anti-corruption agency confront security guards and lawyers at the entrance of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s official residence in Seoul, South Korea, on Jan 15.PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Concerns have been raised as to whether either side would end up using firearms if the stand-off deteriorates in the second attempt to execute the warrant.
Mr Oh Dong-woon, CIO’s chief prosecutor, said in a parliamentary hearing on Jan 7 that the guards standing in investigators’ way on Jan 3 had possessed “various types of firearms”, adding that the investigators in the first attempt “felt intimidated emotionally and physically”.
Police waiting to be deployed for the second attempt were reportedly instructed to retreat 50m immediately, if any weapons are used at the scene of the stand-off.
On Jan 13, Acting President Choi Sang-mok said in a statement that any law enforcement must be carried out “in a peaceful, regulated way”.
“Any armed conflict that occurs between national institutions would leave an unhealable scar,” Mr Choi noted.
The police, CIO prosecutors and presidential bodyguards held three-way talks on the morning of Jan 14, in which the police and CIO asked for the PSS’ cooperation to ensure the warrant is served peacefully.
The PSS said later in the afternoon that it would respond according to its security manual, adding that any attempt to execute the warrant without gaining approval from its acting head, Mr Kim Sung-hoon, would be deemed illegal.
A supporter of President Yoon Suk Yeol stands on top of a vehicle during a protest near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, on Jan 15.PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
What if Yoon is detained?
If the joint probe team serves the warrant and detains Mr Yoon, they will have 48 hours to question him at CIO headquarters in Gwacheon.
It remains uncertain whether the moment the President is taken into custody, should it occur, will be televised.
For the next couple of days, Mr Yoon would be incarcerated at the Seoul Detention Centre in Uiwang, Gyeonggi province, a prison located 16km south of Mr Yoon’s residence.
To detain him longer, they would need to apply for an arrest warrant, which would allow them to hold him for a total of 20 days.
After that, Mr Yoon would be released from custody unless prosecutors file for another warrant, which if granted by a court, would result in his indictment.
Investigators use a ladder to get over a bus as they make their way to the entrance of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol’s official residence in Seoul, South Korea, on Jan 15.PHOTO: EPA-EFE
What if warrant can‘t be served?
From the CIO’s perspective, there is no turning back. CIO chief prosecutor Oh previously stated that it would prepare for the warrant execution “as if the second attempt is the last.”
However, if the joint investigation team fails to serve the warrant again, momentum will likely be lost, and an intensified political backlash will result on both sides.
The ruling party and Mr Yoon’s staunch supporters have already criticised the physical detention of a sitting president as excessive, while the main opposition has condemned the authorities’ incompetence.
Should the second attempt fail, the joint probe’s credibility will further erode and the legislature is expected to insist that a special counsel as the only viable means to investigate Mr Yoon’s alleged insurrection and abuse of power.
The opposition-led National Assembly has already sought a special counsel to probe these allegations, falling just two votes short of approval to override the veto. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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