Investigators with South Korea’s Corruption Investigation Office, CIO, have arrived to enforce an arrest warrant for the country’s impeached president at his residence in Seoul on Friday morning local time, CNN quoted a Yonhap News Agency report.
President Yoon Suk Yeol is wanted for questioning in several investigations, including allegations of leading an insurrection – a crime punishable by life imprisonment or even the death penalty – after declaring martial law in early December.
A court approved the warrant for Yoon on Tuesday, marking the first time such a move has been made against a sitting president, heightening a tense standoff between investigators and the president.
In response, the presidential security team said that “security measures will be taken in accordance with due process for matters related to the execution of warrants.”
The leader was stripped of his presidential powers last month by a parliamentary vote to impeach him, which came after some members of his own ruling party turned on him following his refusal to resign over his short-lived decree.
Yoon, himself a former prosecutor, had refused to answer three summonses by investigators in recent weeks asking for his cooperation, according to the CIO.
The suspended president has stayed defiant in the face of probes and an impeachment trial being conducted by one of the country’s top courts, pledging to “fight to the end” for the country.
The statement, shared with supporters gathering outside his home earlier this week, was his first public reaction in weeks after largely avoiding public scrutiny in the aftermath of his highly panned order.
