South Korean officials fail to apprehend impeached President Yoon due to a security standoff.

South Korean police failed to arrest impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday for declaring martial law, after escaping a mass of demonstrators outside his property and coming to a stalemate with presidential security personnel inside.

Yoon supporters gathered in the pre-dawn hours near the presidential home, numbering in the hundreds, and threatened to prevent any effort to arrest Yoon.Officials from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), which is leading a joint team of investigators probing Yoon’s brief proclamation of martial rule on December 3, arrived at the presidential compound’s gates just after 7 a.m. (2200 GMT Thursday) and walked in.

The CIO and police were surrounded by Presidential Security Service (PSS) and military officers upon entering the property, according to media reports. The South Korean Ministry of National Defense stated that the troops were under PSS supervision.

The CIO called off the operation to arrest Yoon about 1:30 p.m. because to worries about the safety of its workers as a result of the obstruction, and stated it “deeply regretted” Yoon’s noncompliance.  “It was judged that it was virtually impossible to execute the arrest warrant due to the ongoing standoff,” the CIO stated.

Yoon’s lawyer stated in a previous statement on Friday that the execution of an improper arrest order against Yoon is illegal and that they will pursue legal action, but did not elaborate. The arrest warrant, authorized by a court on Tuesday after Yoon rejected several summonses to appear for interrogation, is valid until January 6, and detectives have just 48 hours to keep Yoon if he is arrested. Investigators must then determine whether to get a detention warrant or release him.
The CIO stated on Friday that it will investigate the matter and determine possible future measures.