Investigators halt execution of warrant to detain Yoon after standoff at presidential residence

The state anti-corruption agency suspended its attempt to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed martial law bid Friday following an hourslong standoff between investigators and presidential security staff.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) is expected to make another attempt to detain Yoon over the weekend, while the Presidential Security Service (PSS) threatened to take legal action against “unauthorized trespassing” on the presidential residence.

The CIO said it halted execution of the warrant at 1:30 p.m., about 5 1/2 hours after its investigators arrived at the presidential residence to detain Yoon.

“We determined that executing the detention warrant would be practically impossible due to the continued confrontation, and suspended the execution out of concern for the safety of on-site personnel caused by the resistance,” the CIO said in a notice to the press. “We plan to decide on the next steps following a review.

“We express serious regret over the behavior of the suspect who refused to comply with legally set procedures,” it added.

The CIO vowed to “strongly” demand acting President Choi Sang-mok to instruct the presidential security team to cooperate on its execution of the detention warrant, as it is projected to attempt to detain Yoon over the weekend.

The CIO has until Monday to execute the detention warrant on charges of insurrection and abuse of power linked to Yoon’s short-lived imposition of martial law on Dec. 3.

Some raise the possibility of the agency applying for a new warrant to arrest Yoon.

A CIO official later told reporters investigators got within 200 meters of the residence building but were deterred from getting any closer.

“More than 10 buses or cars were blocking the way and some 200 people with the PSS or military were forming layers of walls, making it impossible to get past,” the official said, noting the team executing the warrant comprised 20 people from the CIO and 80 police personnel. “I understand there were scuffles big and small at each stage.”

The official said three prosecutors were allowed to walk up to the front of the residence, but not inside, making it difficult to determine whether the president was at home.

The prosecutors did, however, meet with two lawyers for Yoon — Yun Gap-geun and Kim Hong-il — who the official said repeated their position that the president could not comply with a warrant issued “illegally” to an agency unauthorized to investigate insurrection charges.

Rallies by Yoon’s supporters outside the presidential residence, however, have complicated the CIO’s effort, along with the potential for clashes with the PSS.

More than 1,000 pro-Yoon protesters gathered near the residence on Friday morning. Surrounded by some 2,700 police officers deployed to maintain order, they chanted: “Illegal warrant. Completely invalid” and “Arrest the CIO.”

When news broke about the CIO’s withdrawal, the protesters, whose number had grown to 11,000 according to a police estimate, erupted in cheers and shouted “We won” while waving the South Korean and U.S. flags and chanting the president’s name.

Anti-Yoon protesters led by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, meanwhile, vowed to stage an overnight rally near the residence to demand Yoon’s arrest.

The CIO had been expected to try to detain Yoon on Friday as executing the warrant on Saturday or Sunday could risk confronting even larger crowds, while executing it Monday would be too close to the deadline.

The CIO has teamed up with the police and the defense ministry’s investigation unit to conduct a joint probe into Yoon’s failed martial law bid.