South Korean Officials Move To Arrest Impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol

Officials in South Korea abandoned an attempt to take President Yoon Suk Yeol in for questioning over insurrection charges earlier today after a standoff inside the president’s residence that lasted several hours. Thousands of his supporters had camped outside and were attempting to stop officials from reaching the president’s residence. “We determined that it has become impossible to serve the warrant because of the prolonged standoff” with the president’s personal security team, the investigators said in a brief statement, calling Yoon’s refusal to comply “deeply regrettable.” They said they would decide later on whether or when to try again to detain him. The attempt was the latest effort by officials to hold Yoon accountable for his short-lived declaration of martial law last month that plunged the country into a political crisis. Yoon has vowed to contest the charges, and his lawyer filed an injunction to challenge the validity of the detention warrant. The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, an independent government agency specializing in crimes involving senior leaders succeeded on Tuesday in getting a court warrant to detain him. The officials would have to apply for a separate court warrant if they want to formally arrest and continue to hold him.