The South Korean investigator enters the house of President Yoon in the second arrest bid | Politics news

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Investigators used ladders to climb into President Yoon Suk-yeol’s compound after he failed to appear at his impeachment trial.

South Korean investigators used ladders to climb into the residential compound of impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol, in their second attempt to arrest him for his short-lived impeachment martial law, according to reports.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that dozens of police officers entered Yoon’s compound in central Seoul at 7:30 local time (22:30 GMT) on Wednesday.

Investigators were initially blocked by the Presidential Security Service, which barricaded the entrance with vehicles, as well as a group of conservative People’s Party lawmakers and Yoon’s lawyers, Yonhap said.

Seok Dong-hyeon, a longtime friend and adviser to Yoon, later said the president was willing to participate in questioning if authorities withdrew from his residence, Reuters news agency reported.

Acting President Choi Sang-mok called for calm in a statement on Wednesday, urging the need to avoid physical contact between state agencies.

“I will hold those severely responsible if unfortunate events occur,” he said.

The encounter at Yoon’s presidential residence comes hours after him failed to appear for the first hearing in his impeachment trial. Efforts to remove him from office continued nearly six weeks after he imposed martial law, a move quickly reversed by the National Assembly.

Patrick Fok, reporting for Al Jazeera from Seoul, said that about 1,000 police officers were involved in the operation at the president’s residence.

“The Presidential Security team warned once again that they see this arrest warrant as having no legal basis and said they will carry out regular security protocols,” Fok said. This “presumably means he will do whatever it takes to protect the president, who remains barricaded in his official residence right now,” he added.

Thousands of people gathered outside Yoon’s home, including those chanting messages of support for the impeached president.

This is the second attempt by the investigator to arrest Yoon after a first failed attempt ended after an hours-long standoff with his security team at the presidential compound in early January.

Since then, Yoon remained in his hillside villa in Seoul for weeks in an effort to evade arrest. He also failed to appear at his impeachment trial on Tuesday morning, leading to adjournments of hearings minutes after they began.

The president’s lawyers said he would not attend the impeachment hearing, adding that he would not be prevented from expressing his position freely because of the ongoing attempts by the authorities to arrest him.

The trial is being held after South Korea’s National Assembly voted on December 14 to impeach Yoon, after he imposed martial law in a surprise late-night speech on December 3, 2024.