South Korea’s Impeached President Resists Arrest Over Martial Law Bid

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol remained defiantly inside his residence, resisting arrest for a third day on Thursday after vowing to “fight” authorities seeking to question him over his failed martial law bid.

The embattled leader issued the bungled declaration on December 3 that led to his impeachment and has left him facing arrest, imprisonment or, at worst, the death penalty.

Supporters and opponents of Yoon have since camped outside his presidential residence, while members of his security team have blocked attempted police raids in a dramatic stand-off.

Yoon has gone to ground but remained unrepentant as the crisis has rolled on, issuing a defiant message to his base days before an arrest warrant expires on January 6.

“The Republic of Korea is currently in danger due to internal and external forces threatening its sovereignty, and the activities of anti-state elements,” he said in a statement passed around to protesters, his lawyer Yoon Kab-keun confirmed to AFP.

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“I vow to fight alongside you to the very end to protect this nation,” he added, saying he watched the hundreds-strong protest on Wednesday evening on a YouTube live stream.

Yoon Kab-keun confirmed to AFP that the impeached leader remained inside the presidential compound.

“The president is at the (official presidential) residence,” he said.

Opposition lawmakers were quick to condemn Yoon Suk Yeol’s defiant message as inflammatory, with Democratic Party spokesperson Jo Seoung-lae calling him “delusional” and accusing him of trying to incite clashes.

The suspended president’s legal team has filed for an injunction to block the warrant and described the arrest order on Wednesday as “an unlawful and invalid act”.