South Korean presidential guards prevent arrest of impeached Yoon after tense stand-off

South Korea’s presidential guards and military troops prevented authorities from arresting impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday in a tense six hour stand-off inside Yoon’s compound in the heart of Seoul.Yoon is under criminal investigation for insurrection over his Dec.3 martial law bid that stunned South Korea and lead to the first arrest warrant to be issued for a sitting president.“It was judged that it was virtually impossible to execute the arrest warrant due to the ongoing standoff,” the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) said in a statement.The CIO officials and police evaded hundreds of Yoon supporters who gathered in the pre-dawn hours near his residence on Friday, vowing to block the arrest “with our lives”.Some chanted “President Yoon Suk Yeol will be protected by the people,” and called for the head of the CIO to be arrested.Officials from the CIO, which is leading a joint team of investigators into possible insurrection charges related to Yoon’s brief declaration of martial law, arrived at the gates of the presidential compound shortly after 7 a.m.

and entered on foot.Once inside the compound, the CIO and police were outnumbered by cordons of Presidential Security Service (PSS) personnel, as well as military troops seconded to presidential security, a CIO official told reporters.As many as 200 formed a human chain to block the CIO and police, the official added.South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said the troops were under the control of the PSS.The CIO called off the effort to arrest Yoon around 1:30 p.m.due to concerns over the safety of its personnel due to obstruction and said it “deeply regretted” Yoon’s attitude of non-compliance.The CIO said it would consider its next steps.Insurrection is one of the few criminal charges from which a South Korean president does not have immunity.His arrest warrant, approved by a court on Tuesday after Yoon ignored multiple summons to appear f...