Rival camps protest in South Korea as authorities press for Yoon’s arrest
Al Jazeera
Prosecutors ask acting president to order security forces to comply with arrest warrant for impeached leader Yoon.
Thousands of South Korean protesters for and against impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol have staged rival rallies in Seoul, a day after authorities failed to execute an arrest warrant on the suspended leader over his short-lived declaration of martial law last month.
The protesters faced-off outside the presidential residence and along major roads in the South Korean capital on Saturday to either demand Yoon’s arrest or call for his impeachment to be declared invalid.
The widening political division comes as investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) for High-Ranking Officials pressed the country’s acting President Choi Sang-mok to order the presidential security service to comply with an arrest warrant for Yoon.
On Friday, the presidential security service and soldiers prevented prosecutors from arresting Yoon in a six-hour standoff inside the impeached president’s compound. Investigators eventually called off the arrest attempt citing safety concerns.
The showdown – which reportedly included shoving, but no shots fired – left the warrant in limbo, with the court order set to expire on Monday.
