Thousands protest in South Korea as Yoon resists second arrest attempt

Police mobilise 1,000 officers ahead of a second attempt to arrest the suspended president over his martial law decree.

Thousands of South Koreans have continued to gather for rival protests in Seoul, as investigators prepare another attempt to arrest suspended President Yoon Suk-yeol over his short-lived martial law decree amid warnings against potential bloodshed.

Protesters both for and against Yoon gathered in sub-zero conditions along major roads in the centre of the country’s capital on Saturday, either demanding his arrest or calling for his impeachment to be declared invalid.

Yoon has been resisting arrest in a standoff between his guards and investigators last week, after his failed December 3 power grab plunged South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades.

On Friday, Park Chong-jun, Yoon’s chief of security, resigned from his post after being investigated for blocking the embattled president’s arrest. Park warned that any further efforts to detain the ex-leader must avoid violence.

He told reporters that the current attempt to arrest Yoon was wrong and that “there should not be any physical clash or bloodshed under any circumstances”.