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South Korean investigators are attempting to arrest President Yoon Suk Yeol as part of a probe into alleged treason and abuse of power after his failed attempt last month to impose martial law.
About 30 investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials and 120 police officers entered Yoon’s residence in central Seoul early on Friday, said the state-run Yonhap News Agency. The head of the Presidential Security Service was not allowing investigators and police to search Yoon’s residence, it added.
Hundreds of Yoon’s supporters rallied outside his residence, shouting “impeachment invalid” and “protect Yoon”.
If arrested, Yoon will be the first incumbent South Korean president to be detained.
Yoon unleashed an acute political crisis in South Korea with his failed effort to impose martial law. He was impeached by parliament last month, but the move has to be approved by the country’s Constitutional Court.
The independent anti-corruption agency is expected to question Yoon over possible insurrection after he allegedly dispatched troops to the National Assembly in an attempt to prevent lawmakers from rejecting his shortlived martial law decree.
Yoon’s lawyers said on Friday that the agency’s attempt to arrest the president was “illegal and invalid” and they would take legal action against the move.
A court issued the arrest warrant this week after Yoon refused to answer repeated summons for questioning. If arrested, he will be questioned by investigators and stay at a detention centre for two days before the anti-corruption agency either releases him or charges him for treason.
Yoon on Wednesday sent a letter to hundreds of his supporters rallying outside his residence. “The country is in jeopardy due to anti-state forces. I’ll fight until the end to protect the nation together with you,” he wrote.
The “law should apply equally to everyone,” said Lee Jae-myung, leader of the opposition Democratic party, on Friday. “Not all people should be sacrificed because of someone’s egotism or a group’s
special interests.”
Under South Korea’s constitution, the president is immune from criminal prosecution, except when facing allegations of rebellion or treason. Acting president Choi Sang-mok on Tuesday appointed two justices to the Constitutional Court, filling two of the vacancies on the nine-member bench.
The court’s eight sitting justices will hold a second hearing on Friday on whether to remove Yoon from office. The court has until June to reach a verdict, though this deadline can be extended. A minimum six votes are required to approve Yoon’s impeachment. If he is removed from office, a presidential election must be held within 60 days.
The political turmoil has weighed on the South Korean economy, which is facing the prospect of higher US tariffs from Donald Trump’s second term in the White House. The government on Thursday revised down this year’s growth forecast to 1.8 per cent from 2.2 per cent and is considering drawing up an extra budget to boost sluggish domestic consumption.
Choi on Friday ordered officials to take measures to stabilise financial markets “swiftly and boldly” in case of heightened volatility.
He said he would continue to meet high-ranking financial officials including Bank of Korea governor Rhee Chang-yong every week to monitor market conditions. Rhee on Thursday warned of growing downside risks for the South Korean economy and said the bank would be “flexible” with the pace of interest rate cuts in the face of “unprecedented” political and economic uncertainties.
South Korea’s stocks and currency were among the worst performers in Asia last year, in part because of the political chaos, with the Kospi stock index down nearly 10 per cent and the won trading near its lowest level since 2009. The Kospi was trading up 1. 7 per cent on Friday morning.
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