President of South Korea was arrested and agreed to appear before the authorities

The South Korean president, Yoon Suk-yeol, ousted for his brief imposition of martial law in December and barricaded in his residence since then, agreed this Wednesday to leave the premises to appear before the authorities while they tried to arrest him.

“He President Yoon has decided to appear personally before the Office for Corruption Cases of Senior Officials (CIO)”, the legal team said in a statement, hours after the security forces managed to access the residential complex to try to execute an arrest warrant imposed to the president.

(Read also: What is happening in South Korea and why did the attempt to arrest the president fail?
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The authorities moved around 5:20 today (20:20 GMT on Tuesday) to the residence of Yoon to try to proceed with the arrest for the second time, after the failed attempt at the beginning of the month, but their first attempts were blocked by the human chain formed by the presidential security services and the lines of vehicles that they placed around the premises.

Several hours later, investigators managed to access the facility using stairs and had been negotiating with representatives of the deposed president to execute the order.

“Since early morning, the CIO and the police have been advancing in force towards the presidential residence compound, announcing plans to carry out mass arrests. There have also been reports of injuries suffered by citizens outside the compound,” said the president’s legal representatives. .

The team added that given the presidential security service’s “determination” to prevent any attempt to arrest Yoon, “it is clear that any physical confrontation between the security team and the police could lead to serious and inevitable incidents,” so The president would have decided to appear, despite considering that his attempt to arrest is “illegal.”

Yoon’s lawyers indicated that they expect a few hours to pass before the appearance, until the situation calms down.

Crisis in South Korea: why is Yoon Suk-yeol being investigated?

Yoon is investigated by the anti-corruption office, the Police and the Ministry of Defense for an alleged crime of insurrection linked to his declaration of martial law last month.

The Police, who have deployed some 3,000 troops for today’s operation and cordoned off the area, issued successive messages over the public address system warning those who prevented the execution of the arrest warrant that they could be arrested for obstruction of the law.

Some 6,500 supporters of Yoon They also gathered around the premises, while around thirty parliamentarians from the ruling People’s Power Party (PPP) also moved to the outskirts of the presidential residence to protest against the arrest order.

Yoon had been hiding in his residence since the National Assembly dismissed him on December 14 following his failed declaration of martial law.

Crisis in South Korea: why did Yoon Su-yeol declare martial law?

The declaration of emergency martial law by Yoon Suk-yeol, who attributed the blame to the main opposition bloc of “pro-North Korean force”, was carried out after a series of tensions between both formations and with the leader at a minimum of popularity.

And, according to the Gallup Korea polling agency at the beginning of November, Yoon’s popular approval fell to 17% and his negative rating reached an all-time high, standing at 74%.

Yoon, in his own words, declared martial law, then, to protect the “constitutional order” from anti-state activities, of which he accuses the Democratic Party of South Korea.