South Korean investigators are once again trying to detain President Yoon at his residence

Armed with a court warrant, criminal investigators began a long-awaited second operation early Wednesday to arrest the ousted president, Yoon Suk-yul, for questioning in connection with rebellion charges stemming from his brief imposition of martial law last month.

Police buses began gathering before dawn outside the hilltop presidential complex where Yoon has been holed up since then He was isolated The National Assembly suspended him from his position on December 14. He was the first South Korean leader to put his country under control. Military rule Since the country began its democratic transition in the late 1980s.

When investigators first visited his residence to execute his arrest warrant on January 3, they were outnumbered by presidential security agents. They were met with barricades of cars, bodyguards and soldiers and had to retreat awkwardly after a five-and-a-half-hour standoff.

On Wednesday morning, with Mr. Yoon’s lawyers, lawmakers from his party and members of the presidential security service standing outside the gates of the complex, he and his supporters appeared preparing to resist renewed efforts to detain him.

Live footage of the street leading to his compound in the morning showed a tense confrontation in below-freezing temperatures, with some jostling and physical conflicts at some point.

The investigators regrouped from the beginning Failed attempt to detain Mr. YoonRenewing the arrest warrant and saying that they would bring more police officers the next time they visited his residence. Police officials said they planned to deploy 1,000 officers, including units specialized in targeting drug gangs and organized crime, and pledged to arrest anyone who got in their way.

For their part, Mr. Yoon Security guards Since then, security forces have fortified the complex by deploying more buses and barbed wire to block the gates and walls. Mr. Yoon has vowed to “fight to the end” to return to office, and said he will not surrender to the court order, which he considers illegal.

The efforts to receive Mr. Yoon mark the first time in South Korean history that authorities have attempted to arrest a sitting president. Current events have swept the country, with news channels and social media broadcasting live coverage. There are fears of a violent clash if neither side backs down.

1 day ago, Constitutional Court An impeachment hearing began for Mr. Yoon, who did not appear. His lawyers said he feared investigators would arrest him if he left his presidential compound.

During the latest attempt to execute the arrest warrant, the Presidential Security Service, a government agency tasked with protecting the president and his family, outnumbered the Corruption Investigation Office for Senior Officials, or CIO, which sought to arrest him with police assistance. police. It deployed 200 bodyguards and soldiers to prevent 100 CIO agents and police officers.

It was not clear how much manpower the presidential security team could muster in its efforts to stop the new attempt to arrest Mr. Yoon.

A military unit guards the perimeter of the presidential complex. But after the first confrontation, the Ministry of Defense informed the Presidential Security Service that it could no longer use soldiers to prevent the implementation of the arrest warrant, saying this was not part of the soldiers’ duty.