South Korea’s Yoon faces fresh arrest attempt at fortified compound

The President of South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol faces new, potentially tougher, attempt to arrest him on insurrection charges after top investigator vows to do everything in his power to break security blockade and arrest indicted leader .

Acting President Choi Sang-mok on Wednesday urged authorities to “do their best to avoid any injury to citizens or physical conflict between government agencies” when carrying out Yoon’s arrest warrant.

Protesters supporting and opposing embattled Yoon braved freezing temperatures to hold rallies in the streets around the presidential complex on Wednesday after a court on Tuesday reissued an arrest warrant for him.

The Presidential Security Service (PSS) fortified the compound this week with barbed wire and barricades using buses to block access to the residence, a hillside villa in an upscale neighborhood known as Beverly Hills in Korea.

Yoon is under criminal investigation for insurrection following his failed attempt to impose martial law on Dec. 3, a move that stunned South Korea and triggered the first arrest warrant for a sitting president.

He also faces an impeachment trial before the Constitutional Court.

One of Yoon’s lawyers said the president could not agree to the execution of the arrest warrant because it was issued by a court of the wrong jurisdiction and the investigative team formed to investigate on the outgoing leader had no mandate to do so.

Yoon Kab-keun, the lawyer, also denied suggestions by some lawmakers that Yoon fled the official residence, saying he met the president there on Tuesday.

He said they were “malicious rumors” intended to slander Yoon.

On Tuesday, Oh Dong-woon, head of the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which is leading the probe, apologized for not arresting the president last week after a six-hour standoff with hundreds of PSS agents. some of whom carried firearms, and military guards were in the compound.

“We will do our best to achieve our goal by carefully preparing this period with great determination so that the second execution of the arrest warrant will be the last,” Oh told a parliamentary committee.

He declined to say how many days the court had allowed before the new arrest warrant expired.

Oh did not object when MPs called for strong measures to rein in the presidential guards and military troops inside the compound, but he refused to discuss the options being considered to achieve this.

Various scenarios were reported in local media, including the mobilization of police special tactical units and heavy equipment to break through the barricades, followed by more than 2,000 police officers to bring out the presidential guards, which would take up to to three days if necessary to exhaust the presidential security agents.

Shin Yul, a professor at Myongji University who has tracked the political unrest, said police had plenty of experience in the tactical operations likely planned.

But safety must be a top priority, especially for protesters, he said, noting the risk of gunfire in a possible clash.

Although police have a clear advantage in resources, such as helicopters to drop tactical units, force should not be the only option considered, said Lee Yung-hyeock, a professor at Konkuk University who specializes in law enforcement.

He spoke of “cognitive warfare,” such as using loudspeakers to persuade PSS agents that they could face personal repercussions for obstructing justice, which could mean the end of their careers and possibly a criminal record.