STORY OF DEVELOPMENTDEVELOPING A STORY,
Yoon's security team is preventing investigators from executing an arrest warrant, local media say.
South Korean authorities are locked in a standoff with President Yoon Suk-yeol's security team after investigators arrived at the ousted leader's compound to execute an arrest warrant over the publication of the summary his time on martial law.
Anti-corruption investigators clashed with the Presidential Security Service (PSS) after they tried to enter Yoon's residence in Seoul early Friday morning to detain the embattled leader.
PSS chief Park Jong-joon banned entry for officials from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (CIO) after announcing restrictions on secure areas, state-funded Yonhap News Agency reported. citing anonymous police sources.
“Prosecutors and CIO investigators are standing by the Presidential Security Service in front of the residence after moving past the first and second barriers,” Yonhap reported that a police officer saying.
Yoon's security detail has prevented investigators from executing several search warrants targeting the president, who briefly imposed martial law on Dec. 3 in the Asian nation. Heading into the deepest political crisis in decades.
Jo Seung-lae, a lawmaker for the anti-liberal Democratic Party, called on Yoon's bodyguards to stand down.
“Do not drag direct employees of the Presidential Security Service and other public officials into the depths of crime,” said Jo.
Speculation about when and how authorities would arrest Yoon has mounted since a court in Seoul earlier this week granted prosecutors' request for an arrest warrant.
If he is arrested, the conservative leader would be the first sitting president to be detained in South Korea's history.
Yoon Kap-keun, a lawyer for Yoon, reiterated his view that investigators were acting outside their authority and the law, a day after the president's legal team filed for an order- law to block the warrant at the country's Constitutional Court.
Seok Dong-hyeon, another member of Yoon's legal team, said it was unlikely that authorities would be able to arrest the president on Friday.
In a defiant New Year's message to supporters gathered outside his residence, Yoon promised to “fight to the end to defend this country with you”.
Yoon has defended his martial law order as legal and necessary, citing the need to “eliminate forces outside North Korea” and investigate unfounded allegations of election fraud.
With freezing temperatures, thousands of Yoon's supporters have gathered outside his compound in recent days to stop the investigation and reverse his impeachment.
“President Yoon Suk-yeol will be protected by the people” and “Illegal warrants are invalid”, protesters said on Thursday.
Authorities have deployed about 2,700 police and 135 police buses in the area to prevent violence between pro- and anti-Yon protesters, Yonhap reported.
If found guilty of treason, one of the few crimes for which a sitting president is not immune from prosecution, Yoon faces serious penalties, including life in prison and the death penalty.
Yoon, who was the country's chief prosecutor before entering politics, has been suspended from his duties since December 14, when the National Assembly voted 204-85 to dismiss him.
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok has been acting president since Dec. 27, when the legislature voted to impeach Yoon's first successor, Han Duck-soo, after he rejected three to fill vacancies in the Constitutional Court, which is considering whether to stick with Yoon. impeachment or restoration of his presidential authority.
The court has up to six months to make its decision, with at least six judges on the bench of nine needed to uphold Yoon's impeachment and remove him from office.
