Thousands of South Koreans took to the streets of Seoul on Saturday, in an increasingly chaotic political environment, a day after a failed attempt to arrest ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol, accused of „rebellion” for trying to impose martial law at the beginning of December.
Critics and supporters gathered on the capital’s boulevards and in front of Yoon’s residence, some demanding his arrest, while others calling for the reversal of his impeachment by the National Assembly, AFP reported.
„If President Yoon is impeached and Lee Jae-myung becomes the new president, our country could be threatened with ‘communization’ and absorption by North Korea (…). I can’t let that happen,” 30-year-old Yoon supporter Jang Young-hoon told AFP.
On the other side, the largest trade union confederation in South Korea (KCTU) marched towards Yoon Suk Yeol’s residence but was blocked by the police, who announced that two members had been arrested and several others injured.
The day before, soldiers and security services blocked investigators who had come to the home of the 64-year-old former star prosecutor to arrest him, with the operation launched early in the morning being canceled after about six hours of negotiations and tensions without results.
The arrest of Yoon Suk Yeol would be the first of a sitting head of state in the country’s history, with him remaining the official president until his impeachment is confirmed or rejected by the Constitutional Court, adopted by Parliament on December 14.
Suspended from office since then and isolated at home, Yoon is accused of shaking the young South Korean democracy on the night of December 3-4 by surprisingly declaring martial law, a show of force that revived painful memories of military dictatorship.
However, in a Parliament surrounded by soldiers, a sufficient number of deputies managed to gather to vote on a motion calling for the lifting of the state of emergency. Under pressure from the Assembly, thousands of protesters, and constrained by the Constitution, Yoon Suk Yeol was forced to revoke it a few hours after declaring it.
The unpopular leader who was stripped of powers is the target of several investigations, including one for „rebellion,” a crime theoretically punishable by death.
On Friday, investigators centralizing the investigations against him, despite having a warrant, were hindered by about 200 soldiers and presidential guards. They left empty-handed around 1:30 p.m. (04:30 GMT), under the eyes of hundreds of pro-Yoon supporters.
„There were minor and major physical altercations between the two sides,” an official from the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) said.
The agency has until Monday to execute the arrest warrant issued by the courts to compel Yoon to answer questions about his attempt to impose martial law.
The issuance of this document was already a first for a sitting South Korean president.
Investigators will be able to request a new one if the first expires without being executed.