January 6th 2025.
Last week, there was a tense standoff between South Korea's presidential security service and the anti-corruption agency, who were trying to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol. However, despite their efforts, the investigators were unable to take him into custody. As a result, the anti-corruption agency has now requested that the police take over the task of detaining President Yoon.
This request was confirmed by both the agency and the police on Monday, just a few hours before the one-week warrant for Yoon's detention was set to expire. Initially, the Seoul Western District Court had issued a warrant for Yoon's detention on December 31st, after he repeatedly ignored requests to appear for questioning regarding his martial law decree on December 3rd.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, which is leading the joint investigation with the police and military, is now considering seeking a new court warrant to extend the window for Yoon's detention. The police have stated that they are currently reviewing the agency's request. It remains to be seen whether the anti-corruption agency will make another attempt to detain Yoon before the midnight deadline.
Meanwhile, hundreds of South Koreans have been protesting near Yoon's residence for two consecutive nights, despite freezing temperatures. They are calling for his removal from office and arrest. Yoon's actions, including declaring martial law and deploying troops to surround the National Assembly, have sparked accusations of rebellion. The agency is also investigating him for this charge.
Yoon's lawyers have challenged the detention and search warrants against him, arguing that they cannot be enforced at his residence due to a law that protects locations potentially linked to military secrets. They also claim that the anti-corruption office does not have the authority to investigate rebellion charges and that the police do not have the legal power to assist in detaining Yoon.
In response to Friday's failed detention attempt, Yoon's legal team has announced that they will file complaints against the anti-corruption agency's chief prosecutor and approximately 150 investigators and police officers involved. They believe that the attempt was unlawful. The team also plans to file complaints against the acting defense minister and police chief for ignoring the presidential security service's request for additional forces to block the detention attempt.
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