Investigators move to arrest South Korea president Yoon

South Korea's impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol has vowed to "fight to the end" as authorities dispatched investigators to execute a warrant to detain him over his shock attempt to impose martial law.

- ANDY GREGORY

As his lawyers warned that police officers attempting to detain him on behalf of South Korea's anti-corruption agency could themselves face arrest “by either the presidential security service or any citizens”, Mr Yoon sent a defiant message to supporters rallying outside his Seoul residence.

Mr Yoon vowed to “fight to the end” against anti-state forces “violating our sovereignty” and putting the nation in “danger”, while his lawyers claimed that any attempt by the anticorruption agency to use police units for his detention would exceed their legal authority.

The message was swiftly condemned by South Korea’s Democratic Party, which accused Mr Yoon of “trying to stage insurrection” and inciting his supporters to obstruct attempts to detain him. South Korean law permits anyone to make an arrest to stop an active crime.

Investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office for HighRanking Officials (CIO) were seen loading boxes into several vehicles before leaving their building in the city of Gwacheon last night. Television footage later showed some of those vehicles weaving between police buses that tightly packed and barricaded the streets near Mr Yoon’s residence.

Braving sub-zero temperatures, thousands of Mr Yoon’s supporters rallied for hours near his residence yesterday amid a heavy police presence, waving South Korean and American flags while chanting “Nullify the impeachment” and “We will protect President Yoon Suk Yeol”.