The head of the Senior Officials Corruption Investigation Bureau warns that anyone who prevents arrest could be prosecuted.
South Korea’s top anti-corruption investigator said ousted South Korean President Yoon Suk-yul will be arrested before an arrest warrant issued over his short-lived declaration of martial law expires next week.
Oh Dong-won, head of the Senior Officials Corruption Investigation Bureau, told reporters on Wednesday that the arrest warrant against Yoon would be executed “within the correct period,” and its last day is Monday.
“We are aiming for a smooth operation without major disruptions, but we are also coordinating to mobilize police and personnel in preparation,” Oh told reporters at the government complex in Gwacheon, south of Seoul.
Oh warned that anyone seeking to prevent Yoon’s arrest could face prosecution.
“We consider acts such as erecting various barricades and closing iron gates to resist the execution of our arrest warrant as obstruction of our official duties,” he said.
Speculation has been rife about when and how authorities will detain Yoon since the country’s Joint Investigation Headquarters sought an arrest warrant for Yoon, which a Seoul court issued on Tuesday.
Leon’s security detail had previously prevented investigators from executing several search warrants directed at the president, and local media indicated that authorities were unlikely to forcefully detain the embattled leader without coordinating with his bodyguards.
If arrested, Yoon would be the first president to be detained in South Korean history.
He faces criminal charges of abuse of power and rebellion, a crime punishable by life imprisonment or the death penalty, for briefly imposing martial law on December 3, which plunged South Korea into its biggest political crisis in decades.
Yoon’s legal team said the arrest warrant was “illegal and invalid” because investigators did not have the authority to investigate the president for rebellion.
Yoon, who served as the country’s top prosecutor before entering politics, has been suspended from his duties since December 14, when the National Assembly decided Voted 204-85 in favor of impeachment.
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok has been serving as acting president since Friday, when the Legislative Council voted to impeach Yoon’s initial successor, Han Dak-soo, over his refusal to immediately appoint three judges to the country’s Constitutional Court.
The court is deliberating whether to uphold Yoon’s impeachment or restore his presidential authority, a process that could take up to six months.
On Tuesday, Choi approved the appointment of two judges nominated by Parliament, leaving only one vacancy on the bench.
At least six justices on the nine-member court must agree to remove Yoon from office.
Yoon has defended his martial law decree as legal and necessary, citing the threat of “anti-state forces” and obstruction by his opposition rivals.
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