South Korean investigators have called off an attempt to arrest suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol after a dramatic six-hour standoff with the security team outside his home.<\/p>\n
“We’ve determined that the arrest is practically impossible,” said the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which has been investigating Yoon’s short-lived martial law declaration.<\/p>\n
“Next steps will be decided after review,” the CIO said, adding that Yoon’s “refusal of the legal process” is “deeply regrettable”.<\/p>\n
Yoon’s supporters, who have been camped out in front of the presidential residence for days, cheered in song and dance as the suspension was announced. “We won!” they chanted.<\/p>\n
The CIO said that concern for the safety of the team on the ground was another factor in their decision to call off the attempted arrest.<\/p>\n
Investigators have until 6 January to arrest Yoon before the current warrant expires. They can, however, apply for a new warrant and try to detain him again.<\/p>\n
Since early morning, dozens of police vans lined the street outside Yoon’s residence in central Seoul.<\/p>\n
At about 08:00 local time (23:00 GMT), an arrest team made up of police officers and CIO members marched towards the compound.<\/p>\n
This started out with a 20-strong team, but quickly multiplied to some 150 people.<\/p>\n
While about half of the arrest team was able to get inside, they were locked for hours in a standoff with security officers – who are still responsible for protecting Yoon, despite him being stripped of his powers – and a military unit responsible for protecting the city of Seoul.<\/p>\n
At one point the security team engaged in a “confrontation with the CIO at the presidential residence”, an official with Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff told AFP.<\/p>\n
Before the attempt was stood down, Yoon’s security team told the news agency they had been “in negotiation” with the investigators who sought to access the president.<\/p>\n
Yoon’s legal team was also seen entering the residence slightly past noon local time.<\/p>\n
His lawyer Yoon Gab-keun had earlier said they would take legal action over the arrest warrant, which they called “illegal and invalid”.<\/p>\n
A Seoul court issued the arrest warrant early this week, after Yoon ignored three summonses to appear for questioning over the past fortnight.<\/p>\n
On Friday, prosecutors also indicted on insurrection charges army chief Park An-su, who was named martial law commander during the brief declaration last month, and special forces commander Kwak Jong-geun, according to Seoul-based news outlet Yonhap.<\/p>\n
They are to face trial while in prison.<\/p>\n
By BBC News<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" South Korean investigators have called off an attempt to arrest suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol after a dramatic six-hour standoff with the security team outside his home. “We’ve determined that the arrest is practically impossible,” said the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which has been investigating Yoon’s short-lived martial law declaration. “Next steps will be decided<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":287782,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49426],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-288136","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-worldnews"},"yoast_head":"\n