SEOUL (Reuters) – Authorities were on their way on Friday to execute an arrest warrant for South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Yonhap news agency reported, as a crowd of protesters confronted police outside his residence and vowed to thwart any further attempts. .
Yoon is under criminal investigation for his brief attempt at martial law on Dec.
Yonhap reported that officials from the Chief Fraud Investigation Office (CIO), leading a joint team of investigators including police and prosecutors, left their headquarters to execute the warrant.
Broadcaster YTN reported that about 2,800 police officers were mobilized to execute the warrant.
It is not clear how the police will make the arrest and whether the presidential security service, which has blocked access by investigators with a search warrant for Yoon's office and legal residence, will try to stop it.
About 100 protesters gathered in the pre-dawn hours near his residence, amid local media reports that authorities would try to execute an arrest warrant approved on Tuesday after Yoon refused to appear.
“We have to stop them with our lives,” one is heard saying to the others. About a dozen protesters tried to block a group of police officers at the entrance to the pedestrian walkway.