South Korean investigators attempt to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol

South Korean investigators attempt to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over martial law, sparking standoff with supporters.

South Korean investigators attempted to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday (January 3, 2025) over his short-lived imposition of martial law, as hundreds of his supporters gathered outside his residence vowing to protect him.

It’s the latest confrontation in a political crisis that has paralyzed South Korean politics and seen two heads of state impeached in under a month. It began on Dec. 3 when Mr. Yoon, apparently frustrated that his policies were blocked by an opposition-dominated parliament, declared martial law and dispatched troops to surround the National Assembly.

Parliament overturned the declaration within hours in a unanimous vote and impeached Mr. Yoon himself on Dec. 14, while South Korean authorities opened a criminal investigation into the events. Mr. Yoon has remained defiant, ignoring requests for questioning and vowing to fight to remain in office.

More than an hour and a half after dozens of investigators and police officers were seen entering the gate of the residence in Seoul to execute a warrant for Mr. Yoon’s detention, the dramatic scene appeared to have developed into a standoff.

The anti-corruption agency didn’t immediately reply to questions about whether investigators successfully entered Yoon’s residential building, but South Korea’s YTN television reported scuffles as investigators and police confronted the presidential security forces. South Korea's Defence Ministry confirmed that the investigators and police officers got past a military unit guarding the residence's grounds. The presidential security service, which controls the residence itself, refused to comment on whether its members were confronting investigators and whether they planned to block the detention attempt.

In a defiant New Year’s message to conservative supporters rallying outside his residence, Mr. Yoon said he will “fight to the end” against “anti-state forces.” His lawyers have described the warrant as “invalid” and “illegal,” and said that the presidential security force could arrest police trying to execute it.

Thousands of police officers gathered at Mr. Yoon’s residence and forming a perimeter around a growing group of pro-Yoon protesters, who braved subfreezing temperatures for hours, waving South Korean and American flags while chanting slogans in his support. There were no immediate reports of major clashes.