South Korea: Yoon Suk Yeol defiant as arrest deadline looms

South Korea’s suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol remains defiant in his newly-fortified residence, with the arrest warrant over his short-lived martial law order set to expire on Monday.

Yoon’s security staff, which stopped authorities arresting him on Friday, installed coiled cable and barricaded the mixture with cars over the weekend, to avoid another try.

Before investigators arrived at his house, Yoon had ignored numerous summonses to look for questioning on rebellion and abuse of power charges, only to have their operation halted after a six-hour conflict with the president’s security service.

Investigators may attempt to prolong the warrant. In an effort to gain more weight, they told the BBC they had requested that the authorities have out it.

In recent days, thousands of protesters have braved heavy snow in support of and against Yoon, sparking public outrage.

South Korea has been in turmoil for the past month, always since Yoon attempted to impose martial law citing a risk from the North and “anti-state makes.” As US Secretary of State Antony Blinken travels to Seoul to try to stabilise relations away of a Donald Trump presidency, more conflict arises.

The legal prosecution against Yoon is about to end.

Yoon’s attorneys asserted that the anti-corruption investigators had no power to handle a circumstance as serious as an insurrection, making their arrest warrant “illegal.”

The national security staff cited this in addition to Yoon’s continued standing as leader until the constitutional judge upholds his impeachment.

To comply with the implementation of an arrest warrant in the midst of continuing legal disputes, according to safety company commander Park Jong-joon, who denied claims that his group was acting for Yoon as a “private militia” for the president.

Yoon’s lawyers, who on Monday filed complaints against investigators over the arrest attempt, said Yoon has been “practically detained in his residence”.

They also filed an injunction against the warrant, which the court rejected despite the fact that they had said they were considering filing an appeal.

Meanwhile, acting president Choi Sang-mok has resisted the opposition’s calls to sack key security officials obstructing the arrest.

The opposition lawmakers had asked investigators to try arresting Yoon once more, according to the BBC, but they “more firmly and with sufficient means.”

A judge may also approve a new detention warrant, which may be submitted by investigators. A court order would prevent Yoon from being detained for up to 20 days, whereas a warrant for his arrest only allows him to be in custody for 48 hours.

However, it seems unlikely that investigators or police will be able to make the arrest without a change in either the circumstances or their strategy.

As seen last Friday, the presidential security service, which built a “human wall” to protect Yoon, may block them once more. He has already pledged to “fight to the end,” which has divided the public and sparked his supporters, who have been demonstrating outside of his home for days.

The tense standoff has also raised urgent questions about the robustness and effectiveness of South Korea’s political and legal institutions.

And it has consequences beyond domestic politics.

The Biden administration had previously praised Yoon, who was praised for his willingness to collaborate with Washington to address the security concerns raised by North Korea and China. To enable South Korea to repair its strained relations with Japan, the US exerted a lot of effort to allow the three countries to work together on these issues.

So Mr Blinken’s ongoing visit to Seoul, where he will meet South Korean foreign minister Cho Tae-yul on Monday, comes at a difficult time for these two allies.

Washington had no chance to dissuade him from Yoon’s announcement that he would go into martial law, and he was unprepared for the chaos that would have come after him because he had not told the US about his plans.

Blinken won’t want to be influenced by the political climate right now. He will instead want to focus on preserving the trilateral cooperation between Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo beyond Biden’s tenure.

But it’s hard to disentangle thedomestic and geopolitical situations. South Korea could be months away from electing a new president, who may well want to break with Yoon’s foreign policies.

Similarly, Trump, who enters the White House in a fortnight, will also pursue his own agenda.

Hosu Lee and Leehyun Choi provide additional reporting in Seoul.