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The president of South Korea, during his speech imposing martial law in the country in response, according to him, to the actions of the majority opposition in parliament.
SOUTH KOREA – New attempt, this time successful. This Wednesday, January 15, South Korean investigators went to the home of Yoon Suk Yeol, the president suspended for his failed attempt to impose martial law, in order to arrest him. After using “ladders” to achieve their ends, the head of state was finally arrested.
The team leading the investigations executed an arrest warrant against President Yoon Suk Yeol today (Wednesday) at 10:33 a.m. (01:33 GMT),” authorities announced after the assault. The president, for his part, said he was obeying the investigators to avoid a “ bloodshed » although he does not recognize the legality of the investigation. He is now in the investigators’ office.
The staff of the CIO, the entity which centralizes the investigations into Yoon Suk Yeol, accompanied by the police, launched their second arrest attempt well before dawn. This took place in a chaotic manner, the investigators having been blocked at the entrance by unidentified people.
Yonhap News Agency reported a « impasse » with the Presidential Security Service (PSS), responsible for protecting heads of state. Finally, the investigators used “ ladders » to enter the president’s house. They then spent a “second barricade”Yonhap said, with television channels showing authorities entering the grounds of the site, then finally breaking through the wall of its official home, according to television footage.
“I decided to respond to the Corruption Investigation Bureau”announced the leader adding not to recognize the legality of the investigation but to submit to it “to avoid any unfortunate bloodshed”.
Suspended for “rebellion”
The PSS has already failed a first descent on January 3. The president, suspended from his functions, risks his position and is prosecuted for “rebellion” for having briefly established martial law on December 3, a shock measure that he had justified by his desire to protect the country from “North Korean communist forces” and“eliminate elements hostile to the State”.
For this second raid, which promised to be extremely tense, the police decided not to carry firearms, limiting themselves to bulletproof vests, local media explained.
Investigators, who warned they would apprehend anyone who obstructed them, were caught in a “physical confrontation as they tried to enter the presidential residence by force”Yonhap said, without saying who was involved in the opposing camp.
Punches flew from both sides, according to an AFP journalist. At least one person was injured after falling during this altercation and was exfiltrated by firefighters, according to television images.
The crowd gathered in front of the residence
AFP photos show dozens of officers wearing markings « police » et « CIO » in the back inside President Yoon’s residential complex. They are seen walking up the roads leading to his residence, on the hillside, holding ladders, after entering the complex through at least two different entrances, noted an AFP journalist.
Thousands of Yoon Suk Yeol supporters also gathered outside his home, some chanting “Illegal warrant!” »in reference to the arrest warrant targeting the leader.
Some 30 deputies from the head of state’s People Power Party (PPP) are also on site to protect their leader, Yonhap said. The IOC and the police began to disperse the pro-Yoon crowd blocking the passage, according to images from the agency, which added that the police were going to arrest the – interim – leader of the PSS due to the obstruction to which this unity is delivered.
This arrest is a first for a serving South Korean head of state. Yoon Suk Yeol may be held in custody for 48 hours under the current warrant. Investigators will have to request a new one to possibly extend the detention of the leader, who has not responded to any of the court summons.
Source: www.huffingtonpost.fr
