SEOUL, South Korea (AP) 鈥 South Korea鈥檚 anti-corruption agency has requested that police take over efforts to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol after its investigators failed to bring him to custody following a standoff with the presidential security service last week.
The agency and police confirmed the discussion on Monday, hours before the one-week warrant for Yoon鈥檚 detention was to expire.
The Seoul Western District Court last Tuesday issued after the embattled president defied authorities by over his short-lived martial law decree on Dec. 3. But executing those warrants is complicated as long as Yoon remains in his official residence.
Yoon has described his power grab as a necessary act of governance against a liberal opposition bogging down his agenda with its legislative majority and has vowed to 鈥渇ight to the end鈥 against efforts to oust him. While martial law lasted only several hours, it set off turmoil that has shaken the country鈥檚 politics, diplomacy and financial markets for weeks and
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials will likely seek a new court warrant to extend the window for Yoon鈥檚 detention, according to police, which said it was internally reviewing the agency鈥檚 request. It wasn鈥檛 immediately clear whether the anti-corruption agency will make another attempt to detain Yoon on Monday before the deadline expires at midnight.
The anti-corruption agency has faced questions about its competence after failing to detain Yoon on Friday, and police have the resources to possibly make a more forceful attempt to detain him.
Yoon鈥檚 legal team claimed in a statement that the agency鈥檚 move to delegate execution of the detainment warrant to police is illegal, saying there鈥檚 no legal grounds for it to delegate certain parts of an investigation process to another agency. Yoon鈥檚 lawyers had submitted an objection to the warrants against the president on Thursday, but the Seoul Western District Court dismissed the challenge on Sunday.
against the anti-corruption agency鈥檚 chief prosecutor, Oh Dong-woon, and approximately 150 investigators and police officers involved in Friday鈥檚 detention attempt, which they claim was unlawful. The team said it will also file complaints with public prosecutors against the country鈥檚 acting defense minister and police chief for ignoring the presidential security service鈥檚 request to provide additional forces to block the detention attempt.
The anti-corruption agency, which leads a joint investigation with police and military investigators, has been weighing charges of rebellion after Yoon and Lawmakers who managed to get past the blockade voted to lift martial law hours later.
Yoon鈥檚 presidential powers were suspended after the opposition-dominated 香港六合彩挂牌资料 Assembly voted to impeach him on Dec. 14, accusing him of rebellion, and his fate now lies with the Constitutional Court, which has begun deliberations on whether to formally remove Yoon from office or reinstate him.
Dozens of anti-corruption agency investigators and assisting police officers attempted to detain Yoon on Friday but that lasted more than five hours.
After getting around a military unit guarding the residence鈥檚 grounds, the agency鈥檚 investigators and police were able to approach within 200 meters (about 218 yards) of Yoon鈥檚 residential building but were stopped by a barricade comprising around 10 vehicles and approximately 200 members of the presidential security forces and troops. The agency said it wasn鈥檛 able to visually confirm whether Yoon was inside the residence.
The agency has urged the country鈥檚 acting leader, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, to instruct the presidential security service to comply with their execution of the detainment warrant. Choi has yet to publicly comment on the issue.
In a video message on Sunday, Park Jong-joon, chief of the presidential security service, hit back against criticism that his organization has become Yoon鈥檚 private army, saying it has legal obligations to protect the incumbent president. Park said he instructed his members to not use violence during Friday鈥檚 standoff and called for the anti-corruption agency and police to change their approach.
Park and his deputy defied summonses on Saturday from police, who planned to question them over the suspected obstruction of official duty following Friday鈥檚 events. Staff from the presidential security service were seen installing barbed wire near the gate and along the hills leading up to Yoon鈥檚 residence over the weekend, possibly in preparation for another detention attempt.
Yoon鈥檚 lawyers argued the detention and search warrants against the president cannot be enforced at his residence due to a law that protects locations potentially linked to military secrets from search without the consent of the person in charge 鈥 which would be Yoon. They also argue the anti-corruption office lacks the legal authority to investigate rebellion charges.
Hundreds of South Koreans rallied near Yoon鈥檚 residence for hours into early Monday, wrapping themselves in silver-coated mats against the freezing temperatures. It was their second consecutive night of protests, with demonstrators calling for his ouster and arrest.
