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Investigators used a ladder to climb into President Yoon Suk-yeol's compound after he failed to appear at his impeachment trial.
South Korean investigators have used a ladder to climb into President Yoon Suk-yeol's home, in a second attempt to arrest him for short-term pressure. martial law, according to reports.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that dozens of police officers had entered Yoon Square in central Seoul since 7:30 a.m. local time (22:30 GMT) on Wednesday.
The investigators were blocked by the President's Security Service, who blocked the entrance using vehicles, as well as a group of People Power Party lawmakers and Yoon's lawyers, Yonhap reported.
The tension in President Yoon's house comes a few hours after him failed to appear for the first hearing in his case against him. Efforts to remove him from office continued six weeks after he imposed martial law, which was quickly overturned by Parliament.
Patrick Fok, who reports to Al Jazeera from Seoul, said about 1,000 police officers were involved in the operation at the presidential palace.
“The President's security team has also warned that it considers the arrest warrant to have no legal basis and said it will follow security procedures at all times,” Fok said. This “probably means that they will do everything possible to protect the President, who remains locked in his house right now”, he added.
Thousands of people have gathered outside Yoon's home, including those chanting messages of support for the unopposed president.
This is the second attempt by investigators to arrest Yoon after the first failure to test ended after hours of conflict with his security team inside the presidential palace in early January.
Since then, Yoon is left inside his mountain home in Seoul for several weeks in an attempt to escape arrest. He also failed to show up for his arraignment Tuesday morning, prompting the hearing to be adjourned minutes after it began.
The president's lawyers said that they will not participate in the case against him, and they also said that they are prevented from expressing their opinions freely because of the government's plans to detain him.
The trial comes after South Korea's parliament voted on December 14 to impeach Yoon, declaring martial law in a surprise speech on the night of December 3, 2024.