South Korea: Why is it so hard to arrest an impeached president?

There were more than 100 police officers and they were armed with a warrant – but South Korean authorities failed to arrest suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol after a six-hour deadlock outside his home.

According to local media, Yoon’s security team formed a mortal wall and used cars to obstruct the arrest team’s route for how long, according to local advertising.

It has been a remarkable quarter for North Korean politicians: Yoon’s unexpected but brief martial law attempt was followed by an impeachment vote against him. Next came the judicial investigation, his refusal to look for questioning and, earlier this year, a warrant for his arrest.

The right-wing president also enjoys a large following, and thousands of people showed up outside his home on Friday night to protest his arrest.

However, Yoon is now viewed as a disgraced leader by some accounts. He has been impeached by parliament and has been suspended from office while awaiting the constitutional court’s decision to remove him.

Why has it turned out to be so challenging for the authorities to apprehend him?

After lawmakers voted to remove him from office, Yoon is also entitled to a safety information despite losing his political authority.

And those people were instrumental in preventing the arrest on Friday.

According to Mason Richey, an associate teacher at Seoul’s Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, the national security company may have acted in response to Yoon or because it had “underunderstood their legal and constitutional part.”

The PSS may get taking orders from acting President Choi Sang-mok given that Yoon has been suspended. According to Assoc Prof Richey,” They have either not been given instructions by acting President Choi to walk down, or they are refusing his requests to do so.”

Some authorities believe that Yoon and the security staff were actually showing “unconditional commitment” to one another. They point out that Yoon appointed Park Jong-joon, the PSS’s commander, to the position last September.

According to US-based attorney and Korea specialist Christopher Jumin Lee,” It may be true that Yoon has seeded the organization with radical loyalists in readiness for exactly this eventuality.”

And that Kim Yong-hyun, who is accused of advising Yoon to enact military law, was Park’s father. He is now being detained for questioning as part of the Yoon legal case.

The” simplest” solution, Mr Lee says, is for acting president Choi to order the PSS to stand down in the interim.

” If he is willing to do so, that may be grounds for his own impeachment by the National Assembly”, he added.

Choi, who is the financing minister, had stepped in to lead the country after legislators voted to impeach Yoon’s second son, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.

This political deadlock also reflects the polarization in North Korean elections, between those who support Yoon and those who oppose it. And the distinctions don’t always stop it.

According to Duyeon Kim, an alternative senior colleague at the Center for a New American Security, the majority of South Koreans concur that Yoon’s declaration of martial law on December 3 was wrong and that he needs to be held accountable, but they cannot agree on what transparency will look like.

” The players involved disagree over approach, process and their authorized base, which is adding to the current social uncertainty”, she explains.

Similarly, uncomfortable standoffs like the one that took place on Friday in and outside Yoon’s president’s home, where his followers have been camping out for times, are starting to get heated speeches and yet get-scratches with authorities.

Law enforcement had use force and return with more agents, but that would be “highly dangerous,” according to Assoc Prof. Mason.

The PSS also is heavily armed, but arresting officers may be looking to prevent any increase.

What happens if the police appear with extra warrants requesting the arrest of PSS staff, [the PSS] defy those permits as well and then hurl their firearms? Mr Lee asks.

There could be more costs and arrest warrants coming because the PSS chairman and his assistant have already been charged with obstructing them.

The Corruption Investigation Office ( CIO ), which is looking into Yoon’s martial law order, is also facing a challenge due to his fallout.

It has only been in operation for four decades. It was created as a reaction to Park Geun-hye’s imprisonment, defection, and subsequent jail time in response to the public’s outcry over a bribery scandal.

While previous South Asian leaders have been imprisoned, Yoon is the first to face imprisonment before resigning.

Before the recent warrant expires, investigators have until January 6 to make Yoon’s arrest.

Over the weekend, they might try to apprehend Yoon, but the trip might prove more difficult if the number of supporters grows. Additionally, they may attempt to detain him once more while applying for a new permit.

Given how much South Korea has today slid into unknown territory, the confusion is likely to continue.

Ewe Koh provided further monitoring.