Thousands of South Koreans have continued to gather for protests in Seoul, as investigators plan to try again to arrest suspended President Yoon Suk-yeol over a short-term decree amid warnings of bloodshed.
Yoon's opponents and opponents gathered at ground zero on the main streets in the center of the capital on Saturday, demanding that he be arrested or that his case be declared invalid.
Yoon has been resisting arrest between his bodyguards and investigators for the past week, after all failed December 3 power held has plunged South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades.
On Friday, Park Chong-jun, Yoon's security chief, resigned after being investigated for preventing the president's arrest. Park warned that further efforts would bind the former leader they must avoid violence.
He told reporters that the current action to arrest Yoon was wrong and that “there should be no fighting or bloodshed at any time”.
On Saturday, Park was also asked to stop Yoon's arrest.
The country has been in turmoil for weeks after Yoon ordered the military to storm the parliament, where he tried to prevent politicians from voting on martial law.
Since the failure of martial law, the legislature has suspended Yoon, and he has been suspended pending a final decision from the Constitutional Court on his removal.
Meanwhile, prosecutors conducted further investigations and obtained a court order for Yoon's arrest and detention, which the president's defense denied. The arrest warrant expired Monday.
Kim Seong-hun has taken Park's role as Yoon's security chief. He is expected to lead efforts to prevent the introduction of a second arrest warrant. According to media reports, Yoon's bodyguards have fortified his Seoul home with barbed wire and bus barriers.
The CIO said it would “fully plan” a second attempt to arrest Yoon and warned that anyone who obstructed them could be arrested.
The National Office of Investigation, a police unit, has also sent a letter to Seoul police officials asking them to prepare to recruit 1,000 investigators for the new trial, Yonhap news agency reported.
If Yoon is taken into custody, he will be the first South Korean president to be arrested.
Al Jazeera's Patrick Fok, reporting from Seoul, said there was no indication that a second warrant for Yoon's arrest could be executed, but said the coming week could be a deciding factor in the political crisis as Yoon's first trial is scheduled to take place. Tuesday.
“Whether he will appear before the court is unknown; He also said that he may not be able to do so because of some legal issues that have not been resolved,” said Fok. “And that will make the process more difficult if they don't come to court.”
Fok said Saturday's protests remained festive and peaceful.
“These may be some of the biggest demonstrations we've seen since the political revolution, with some reports suggesting that there are over half a million people on the streets of Seoul,” he said.
“If you were to come here, you'd be forgiven for mistaking K-pop music. The events that have been going on are loud and colorful and well organized. It's easy to see why so many people want to take part.”
Anti-Yoon activist and student Kim Min-ji, 25, told AFP that the police and the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) had failed to act.
“Despite our best efforts, (Yoon) continues to evade charges,” Kim said. “It is important that we raise our voices until he is removed from office.”
Yoon's aide Su Yo-hahn, 71, said the military president's announcement to eliminate anti-government groups had “reasonable reasons”.
“He is a person who was elected by the people to represent our country. Saving Yoon is the way to save our nation,” Su said.
Brandon Kang, a 28-year-old follower of Yoon, told AFP that he liked the president because he found him “very similar to US President-elect Donald Trump, which I appreciate…”.