South Korea martial law declaration: investigators attempt to arrest impeached President Yoon for second time

South Korean authorities investigating impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol gathered outside his residence on Wednesday for what appeared to be a new attempt to arrest him over insurrection accusations related to his December 3 martial law declaration.

Video footage showed vehicles from the investigating authorities in front of Yoon’s hillside villa in Seoul, where he has been holed up for weeks.

Investigators were foiled on January 3 from serving the first ever arrest warrant issued against a sitting South Korean president after a standoff with hundreds of presidential security agents and military guards.

Some 6,500 supporters of Yoon were gathered at the residence on Wednesday, and some ruling party lawmakers were forming a human chain to block the execution of the arrest warrant, Yonhap News Agency said.

Pro-Yoon protesters were singing and waving light sticks, according to a Reuters witness, while police buses were blocking roads near the main gate of the residence so other vehicles did not have access.

Yoon’s lawyer Yoon Kab-keun, who was carrying papers, could also be seen talking to investigating officials in black uniforms in front of Yoon’s compound, video footage showed.

Lawyers for Yoon, who was impeached by parliament on Dec. 14 and has been secluded in his official residence in Seoul, have said trying to arrest him was a politically motivated attempt to publicly humiliate the embattled president.

They also said Yoon believed the arrest warrant was illegal because it was issued by a court in the wrong jurisdiction and the team set up to investigate him had no legal mandate to do so.

The team executing the arrest warrant, made up of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) and the police, secured a re-issued warrant on Jan. 7 and has held multiple meetings in a bid to ensure a successful execution.

Oh Dong-woon, head of the CIO leading the investigation, has said authorities would do whatever it takes to bring Yoon into custody.

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