SEOUL — The Seoul Western District Court reissued the arrest warrant for Chairman Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday night.
The head of the Corruption Investigation Bureau, Oh Dong-woon, told a parliamentary hearing that they would “prepare well to carry out the arrest, as if it were a last resort.”
The attempt to arrest Yoon came after a South Korean court issued an arrest and search warrant on Dec. 31 for imposing martial law during his short-lived tenure, ABC News confirmed. Yoon has been suspended from his post since December 14.
A general view shows the residence of ousted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul, South Korea on January 8, 2025.
Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images
Yoon’s lawyer told reporters on Wednesday that he is still at his residence and is very disappointed to hear rumors that he has fled. The lawyer said that the opposition members of parliament have spread these rumours.
In preparation for another arrest attempt, the President’s Secret Service increased surveillance near the Presidential residence, adding more chains to the barbed wire fence and blocking vehicles.
Yoon’s lawyer said he still strongly believes that the CIO’s enforcement of the arrest warrant is illegitimate, as the CIO does not have the authority to investigate the rebellion. He also stated that the Seoul Western District Court, which reissued the arrest warrant, has no jurisdiction. However, he told reporters that if the impeached president were to be indicted, they would be tried.
Thousands gathered on Sunday, a day earlier another arrest warrant because Yoon expired, he almost contested the seat of the president
Security personnel conduct checks at the entrance gate of the compound inside the residence of ousted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, seen from a hilltop in Seoul on January 8, 2025.
Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images
Protesters on both sides — one calling the order invalid or illegal and the other calling for his arrest — occupied a wide four-lane road in a normally quiet neighborhood, blocked to all traffic, in freezing temperatures and snow.
Yoon declared martial law in a televised speech on December 3. The president said the measure was necessary because of the actions of the country’s liberal opposition, the Democratic Party, which has been accused of controlling parliament, sympathizing with North Korea and stalling the government.
A supporter of ousted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stands next to a deployable police barricade in front of a picture of Yoon displayed on a large monitor, pointing out Korean words of encouragement to Yoon, during a rally near his residence in Seoul on January 8. , 2025.
Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images
After more than 100 investigators from the anti-corruption agency CIO and police officers withdrew from the headquarters, the tension between the two sides has been intense, following tensions with the presidential security service.
Yoon’s die-hard supporters have taken to the streets vowing to protect them from “pro-North Korean forces who are about to steal the presidency.” Anti-Yoon protesters who support the opposition party say Yoon should be jailed for sedition.
ABC News’ Joohee Cho and Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.
