South Korean authorities have granted a request to extend a warrant to detain the country’s suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol for questioning over his surprise declaration of martial law last month.

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol faces a new and potentially more robust attempt to arrest him for insurrection after a top investigator vowed to do whatever it takes to break a security blockade and take in the impeached leader.

“South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will accept the decision of the Constitutional Court that is trying parliament’s impeachment case against him, even if it decides to remove the suspended leader from office,” his lawyer said on Thursday (January 9, 2025).

President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea may face arrest on insurrection charges. An investigator is determined to break the security blockade around the presidential compound to arrest him. Yoon is under criminal investigation for a martial law bid and is facing a separate impeachment trial.

Impeached leader’s security prevent police from executing warrant to detain him for questioning over last month’s martial law decree

A South Korean court on Tuesday approved an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol, the embattled leader who plunged the country into political chaos by his shock decision to declare martial law nearly a month ago.

Yoon Kab-keun, one of the lawyers representing South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, said on Thursday that Yoon was staying in his official residence. The lawyer made the comment in a briefing to reporters following recent speculation over the suspended president's whereabouts.

Hundreds of supporters gathered once again outside the president's official residence, pledging to protect him from South Korea's national anti-corruption agency.