A fresh attempt to arrest South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who is facing sedition charges, is set to be made after a senior investigator vowed to do everything necessary to break through a blockade by presidential guards and detain the impeached leader, Reuters reported.
Protesters, some supporting and others opposing Yoon, continued to demonstrate in the streets around the presidential palace on Monday despite sub-zero temperatures.
Meanwhile, a court issued another arrest warrant for Yoon last night.
This week, the Presidential Security Service (PSS) fortified the presidential palace with barbed wire and barricades, using buses to block access to the hilltop building where he is believed to be located. Yun, who refused to appear for questioning.
Yun is being investigated for sedition over his declaration of martial law on December 3, which shocked South Korea and led to the first arrest warrant for a sitting president.
He is also involved in another trial at the Constitutional Court for impeachment, which was voted on by parliament on December 14 over the declaration of martial law.
Oh Dong-won, head of the High-Level Corruption Investigation Service, which is leading the investigation into Yun, apologized last night for the failed arrest attempt last Friday.
Oh called off the arrest attempt after a human chain of hundreds of members of the PES and military guards prevented him from entering the presidential palace.
“We will do everything we can to achieve our goal, and this time we will prepare thoroughly and "with great determination, so that the second attempt to execute the order will be the last," O told a parliamentary committee.
It was not immediately clear how long the new arrest warrant would take, Reuters reported.
O did not object when lawmakers called for tough action to overcome the presidential guard and military units at the presidential palace, but declined to confirm what options were being considered.
Various scenarios reported in local media include mobilizing police special tactical units and heavy equipment to breach the barricades, followed by the deployment of more than 2,000 police to remove the presidential guard, which could take up to three days if necessary to wear down the presidential guard agents.
In the previous arrest attempt, officers from the Corruption Investigation Service and the police were outnumbered by more than 200 officers from the PES, some of whom carried firearms, as well as soldiers assigned to guard the president.