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South Korean investigators are trying to arrest President Yoon Suk Yeol as part of a probe into allegations of treason and abuse of power after his failed attempt last month to impose martial law.
About 30 investigators from the Senior Officials Corruption Investigation Bureau and 120 police officers entered Yoon’s residence in central Seoul on Friday morning, the official Yonhap News Agency said. The head of the presidential security service did not authorize investigators and police to search Yoon’s residence, he added.
Hundreds of Yoon’s supporters gathered outside his residence, shouting “impeachment invalid” and “protect Yoon.”
If he is arrested, Yoon will be the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested.
Yoon triggered an acute political crisis in South Korea with his unsuccessful efforts to impose martial law. He was impeached by Parliament last month, but the move must be approved by the country’s Constitutional Court.
The independent anti-corruption agency is expected to question Yoon over a possible insurrection after he reportedly sent troops to the National Assembly to try to stop lawmakers from rejecting his brief martial law decree.
Yoon’s lawyers said Friday that the agency’s attempt to arrest the president was “illegal and invalid” and that they would take legal action against the move.
A court issued the arrest warrant this week after Yoon refused to respond to repeated summons for questioning. If arrested, he will be questioned by investigators and will remain in a detention center for two days before the anti-corruption agency releases him or charges him with treason.
Yoon sent a letter to hundreds of his supporters gathered outside his residence on Wednesday. “The country is in danger because of anti-state forces. I will fight to the end to protect the nation with you,” he wrote.
The “law should apply equally to everyone,” Lee Jae-myung, head of the opposition Democratic Party, said Friday. “Not everyone should be sacrificed because of someone’s selfishness or group membership.
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Under South Korea’s constitution, the president is immune from criminal prosecution except when facing allegations of rebellion or treason. Acting President Choi Sang-mok on Tuesday appointed two judges to the Constitutional Court, filling two of the vacancies on the nine-member bench.
The court’s eight sitting judges will hold a second hearing on Friday to determine whether to remove Yoon from office. The court has until June to deliver its verdict, but this deadline may be extended. A minimum of six votes are needed to approve Yoon’s impeachment. If he is removed from office, a presidential election must be held within 60 days.
Political unrest has weighed on South Korea’s economy, which faces the prospect of higher U.S. tariffs following Donald Trump’s second term in the White House. The government on Thursday revised its growth forecast for this year downward from 2.2 to 1.8 percent and plans to draw up a supplementary budget to boost sluggish domestic consumption.
Choi on Friday ordered officials to take steps to stabilize financial markets “quickly and boldly” in the event of increased volatility.
He said he would continue to meet weekly with senior financial officials, including Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong, to monitor market conditions. Rhee on Thursday warned of growing downside risks to South Korea’s economy and said the bank would be “flexible” on the pace of interest rate cuts in the face of “unprecedented” political and economic uncertainties .
South Korean stocks and currency were among the worst performing in Asia last year, partly due to political chaos, with the Kospi stock index down nearly 10 percent and the won trading close to its lowest level since 2009. The Kospi was trading up 1.7 percent Friday morning.
