South Korea President Yoon Suk-yeol arriving at the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials in Gwacheon opn Jan 15, 2025 following his arrest. - Bloomberg
SEOUL: Yoon becomes first South Korean sitting president to be arrested, as presidential bodyguards show nearly no resistance to Yoon’s arrest
The joint investigative team handling suspended President Yoon Suk-yeol's arrest succeeded in taking him into custody Wednesday morning, as he became the first president in the country's history to be arrested on charges of leading an insurrection and committing abuse of power with his Dec 3 botched imposition of martial law.
The second attempt to arrest the president, led by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, faced virtually no resistance from the Presidential Security Service, according to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials leading the joint probe.
Wednesday’s raid marked several changes from their first attempt that took place on Jan 3, in which some 150 investigators and police had to turn back after an over five hour-long standoff with approximately 200 presidential bodyguards and military personnel forming a human barricade to block their entry.
This time around, the police either arrested or acquired arrest warrants for prominent figures of the PSS who led the resistance against Yoon's arrest earlier this month, while the presidential bodyguards themselves appeared to take a more passive stance to resisting the approximately 1,000 investigators and police personnel.
The CIO said that “basically no physical altercation” took place between the joint probe team -- also consisting of the Korean National Police Agency’s National Office of Investigation and the Criminal Investigation Command of the Defence Ministry -- and the presidential security team.
None of the PSS officials were actively blocking the team from carrying out Yoon's arrest, unlike on Jan 3, the agency said in a press briefing.
The only somewhat significant struggle the joint probe team faced was from pro-Yoon protestors at around 6:30 a.m., and during another scuffle with at least 20 lawmakers and an unconfirmed number of officials from the ruling People Power Party at around 5:40 a.m. before entering the premise.
Taking a leaf out of their own book from the unsuccessful arrest attempt, 200 police officers took an alternate path to move past the multiple blockades set up inside the gates.
Meanwhile, the PSS did not put up a significant amount of resistance, as Yoon's lawyers tried to negotiate with the CIO to have the president "voluntarily" agree to appear for questioning.
The relative lessening of the PSS' resistance to Yoon's arrest since Jan. 3 is thought to have stemmed from friction within the presidential security team.
The PSS reportedly instructed their officials on Tuesday that those who wish to opt out of their security duties, or who needed to take paid annual leave, were free to do so.
Investigators attempting to arrest suspended President Yoon Suk-yeol moving past a barricade of buses set up by the Presidential Security Service inside the gates of the presidential residence compound in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul on Jan 15, 2025. - Yonhap/The Korea Herald
Local Korean-language daily Seoul Shinmun reported that a few of the officials went on paid leave ahead of the expected second arrest attempt.
Another Korean-language newspaper, the Hankyoreh, reported that multiple high-ranking officials of the PSS have expressed discontent with Yoon's supposed orders to "consider using force when the investigators attempt the arrest for the second time."
Some supposedly called for PSS Deputy Chief Kim Seong-hoon -- who took charge after the agency's head Park Jong-joon stepped down -- to comply with the police summons, urging the presidential bodyguards' leadership "not to make PSS workers criminals."
On heels of the earlier failed arrest attempt on Jan 3, the police moved against the PSS leadership who had been actively blocking the execution of Yoon's arrest warrant. Park and head of the PSS Security and Safety Division Lee Jin-ha are currently under investigation for obstructing the performance of official duties, and arrest warrants for interim chief Kim and head of the PSS Bodyguard Division Lee Kwang-woo were issued for the same charges.
Police officers cutting a wire fence set up at the entrance to Yoon's official residence as authorities sought to execute the arrest warrant on Jan 15, 2025. - Reuters
Reports indicate that the presidential bodyguards have grown tired of the prolonged standoff to prevent Yoon's arrest, for which there are no legal grounds. A PSS official told local broadcaster MBC on Monday that most workers at the agency know they are facing obstruction of civic duties charges, but they have been suppressed from expressing dissent or disobeying orders since the agency is an organization that requires absolute loyalty.
"(Officials) inside the PSS all want Kim's arrest. Those at the PSS would not stop execution of arrest warrant for Kim," the official was quoted as saying.
Police officers and investigators of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials gathering in front of the entrance of Yoon's official residence on Jan 15, 2025. - Reuters
Legal experts across the country have been advising the PSS officials that they have the right to refuse their superiors' orders, if such orders are unjust or against the law.
Cha Seong-an, a former judge and current professor of law at University of Seoul's Law School, distributed a form for presidential bodyguards not wanting to follow the PSS leadership's orders to block Yoon's arrest.
The signable form specifies that a president's legal immunity does not cover the insurrection charge Yoon is currently facing, and that him being arrested does not pose a threat to the South Korean leader's physical body.
Yoon is currently facing criminal investigation for insurrection and power abuse charges, regarding his Dec 3 declaration of martial law and his allegedly illegal orders to his military commanders. He is also on trial for impeachment under the same charges. - The Korea Herald/ANN
