After Standoff, Investigators Fail to Arrest President Yoon on Insurrection Charges
The attempt to arrest President Yoon has failed, fortunately this did not turn into a huge brawl:
Investigators from the state anti-corruption agency and police officers leave the premises of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol’s official residence in Seoul on Jan. 3, 2025, after failing to execute a warrant to detain Yoon over his failed bid to impose martial law in December. (Yonhap)
The state anti-corruption agency suspended its attempt to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed martial law bid Friday following an hourslong standoff between investigators and presidential security staff.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) is expected to make another attempt to detain Yoon over the weekend, while the Presidential Security Service (PSS) threatened to take legal action against “unauthorized trespassing” on the presidential residence.
Here is Yoon’s lawyers’ view of this arrest warrant:
The official said three prosecutors were allowed to walk up to the front of the residence, but not inside, making it difficult to determine whether the president was at home.
The prosecutors did, however, meet with two lawyers for Yoon — Yun Gap-geun and Kim Hong-il — who the official said repeated their position that the president could not comply with a warrant issued “illegally” to an agency unauthorized to investigate insurrection charges.
I still have not read a clear explanation of if what Yoon did was unconstiutional or not. It was clearly stupid and not something I would have advised, but was it illegal? If anyone has any links that lays out clearly the ROK President’s ability to declare martial law please leave them in the comments section.
Besides Presidential security blocking the attempt by investigators to arrest Yoon he also drew a large crowd of demonstrators in support of him:
Rallies by Yoon’s supporters outside the presidential residence, however, have complicated the CIO’s effort, along with the potential for clashes with the PSS.
More than 1,000 pro-Yoon protesters gathered near the residence on Friday morning. Surrounded by some 2,700 police officers deployed to maintain order, they chanted: “Illegal warrant. Completely invalid” and “Arrest the CIO.”
When news broke about the CIO’s withdrawal, the protesters, whose number had grown to 11,000 according to a police estimate, erupted in cheers and shouted “We won” while waving the South Korean and U.S. flags and chanting the president’s name.
You can read more at the link.
Gormless, feckless, and pusillanimous. And fed by the same source as our local trolls.
one of the pro-communist protestors assault a combat police officer and put him in the hospital.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifLqzLEB3E0
That was proven to be a fake story. lol. Defamation charges are getting filed right now. Where you getting these ‘news’ from? Your taegukki brigade Youtube brigade?
Ask your buddies here, since you’re not really interested in truth. I bet they won’t tell you the truth or they’ll remain silent knowing the answer.
Prove it is false.
You can’t prove it false because here is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHDqvc12nrg
Source is Forbes News; Assaulted police man can be seen starting around the 1 min mark. https://youtu.be/tHDqvc12nrg?si=0Sjlo7FzIw3PMLmF&t=60
Look at those sad commies.
East Asia Research Center is listed on Must Read Korea Sites on this page. It is a blog by Dr. Tara O.
@GIKorea
Declaring martial law itself is not unconstitutional. However, several aspects of President Yoon’s actions surrounding this declaration could raise constitutional concerns.
Cabinet Approval: The law and the Constitution require that the President seek approval from the Cabinet before declaring martial law. There are questions about whether Yoon followed this procedure. Reports suggest that he merely informed the Cabinet of his decision rather than obtaining their explicit approval, which could violate constitutional requirements.
Banning Political Parties and Activities: Another concern is whether the actions taken under martial law, such as banning political parties and political activities, were constitutional. Such measures may exceed the scope allowed by the Constitution, which could be problematic if they infringe on basic democratic rights and freedoms.
Sending Armed Troops to the National Assembly: The deployment of armed forces to the National Assembly to block voting and arrest members is another critical issue. The Constitution specifically guarantees the independence of the National Assembly, even during martial law, and such actions could be seen as an unconstitutional interference with legislative processes.
In summary, even though declaring martial law itself is not unconstitutional, the manner in which it was declared and executed—particularly regarding Cabinet approval, the suppression of political activities, and the interference with the National Assembly—could be seen as violations of constitutional principles.
The investigations by the Prosecutor’s Office indicate that Yoon did not adhere to the necessary constitutional procedures, which certainly doesn’t help his position among the Constitutional judges.
TOK, that was an excellent explanation.
A couple of points to consider:
Cabinet Approval: The law clearly does NOT require cabinet approval.
Republic of Korea, Martial Law Act, Article 2(5):
“The declaration of martial law or alteration in its nature by the President shall undergo deliberation by the State Council.”
The term “deliberation” in the context of Article 2, Section 5 of the Korea Martial Law Act implies that the President must formally present the decision to declare or modify martial law to the State Council for discussion and consideration. However, it does not necessarily bind the President to act on the council’s advice or consent.
(The State Council, as defined in the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, comprises the President, the Prime Minister, and other ministers.)
Getting him on this is not as sure of thing as the media and opposition party would have us believe.
Banning Political Parties and Activities: The Korean constitution clearly states the president can ban many things during martial law.
Republic of Korea, Constitution, Chapter IV The Executive, Artical 77(3):
“Under extraordinary martial law, special measures may be taken with respect to the necessity for warrants, freedom of speech, the press, assembly and association, or the powers of the Executive and the Judiciary under the conditions as prescribed by Act.”
Political activities fall under the category of freedom of speech, assembly, and association.
Again, this is not exactly how the media and opposition party is marketing it.
Sending Armed Troops to the National Assembly: The Korean constitution has a clear separation of powers.
Republic of Korea, Constitution, Chapter IV The Executive, Artical 77(5):
“When the National Assembly requests the lifting of martial law with the concurrent vote of a majority of the total members of the National Assembly, the President shall comply.”
It’s a clever trick to stop them from voting but it somehow feels as if it goes against the spirit of the law, doesn’t it?
If they get him, this is where it will be, it seems.
But I am not a Korean constitutional scholar, so no offense to point out what I got wrong.
Ah yes, Chicken Head is now spreading fake news and misinformation by making up non existent passages of the Korean Constitution so as to make it look like Yoon did nothing wrong.
Not surprising considering that making up fake news and misinformation is a rightwing thing.
This is why I believe rabid right wingers such as Chicken Head should be made to disappear from the face of the earth.
Republic of Korea, Constitution, Chapter LIVID Extra Shít and Stuff, Artical 420(69):
“If librards start yapping nonsense, it is acceptable to remind them their unloving mom is fat.”
TOK, thanks for the explanation. It seems there may be some room for interpretation on this. You would think Yoon being a lawyer would have had multiple experts give legal opinions before declaring martial law. However, with how incompetently it was executed that may not have been the case. It will be interesting to see how the Constitutional Court rules on all of this.
Chickenhead as usual, spews more ignorant remarks about Korea.
This isn’t for you Chickenhead, Flyingswoard, and Setnaffa, so don’t bother reading further. Since you three won’t reply with anything other than a immature chinabot accusation, you can stop reading.
This is for TOK, GI Korea, and others who are serious and maybe curious.
TOK misses few critical facts:
1) Yoon took back the Martial Law in his second speech to the nation, on Dec 4. In that speech, he claimed that this wasn’t a real Martial Law. He claimed that this was just a warning signal to the opposition party, whom he claimed were all Commie Reds in disguise, ruining Korea. So it wasn’t a real Martial Law, thus according to his logic (as well as the logic of his far-right supporters), he didn’t break any constitutional law, so therefore he should not be impeached. As per GI Korea’s excuse for Yoon (GI Korea’s attempt to limit the damage to Yoon), that’s a hoot – Yoon knew fully well that he was breaking the Constitutional Law and was not expecting to fail. He failed in the bid, not because he didn’t know about the law, nor because he didn’t plan his plot carefully (he had a lot of help from the military, his cabinet, the police, and the Conservative Party) – but because the common young soldiers on the ground on night of Dec 3, refused to follow orders. If they had followed orders, South Korea today would be a one party state, just like Russia, China, or North Korea.
2) Also consider that Yoon drew up a list of people to be arrested which included opposition leader Lee Jae Myung, PPP floor leader Han Dong Hoon, the speaker of National Assembly, Woo Won Shik, the online journalist Kim Oh Joon, as well as several South Korean journalists critical of the government – they were all to be arrested and taken to a secret underground bunker where they were to be disappeared. Attempts of disappearing the political opposition are not legal under the Constitution which deserves impeachment, and is also a criminal code violation which deserves prison time.
3 Have a look at South Korea’s constitution shown here:
https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2024/12/falqs-south-korean-martial-law/#:~:text=The%20constitution%20states%20%E2%80%9C%5Bw%5D,77%2C%20para.%201.)
Yes Korean president may declare Martial Law, but pay attention to this part:
The constitution states “[w]hen it is required to cope with a military necessity or to maintain the public safety and order by mobilization of the military forces in time of war, armed conflict or similar national emergency, the President may proclaim martial law.” (Constitution, art. 77, para. 1.)
South Korea was not at war, there was no armed conflict, and the public safety was not compromised as the civilian organizations including the South Korean police were still intact and still doing their job. Yoon had zero legit reason to declare Martial Law (or a fake Martial Law as he falsely claims).
4) Yoon and his supporters are claiming that he is being persecuted unjustly, but he has not even been charged with any crime yet. Yoon’s supporters including the ruling PPP party has done everything they can do delay the appointment of the Constitutional Judges, as well as blocking investigation of Yoon. Yoon was summoned for questioning three times for over a week, and he did not comply – with help from his supporters. That’s the reason for the arrest warrant. He is being arrested for not appearing at the summons and not cooperating with the investigation. He is actually not being arrested for the insurrection (at least not yet). In his speech, Yoon said he would take full responsibility and cooperate with the investigators. He lied, and he refuses to cooperate at all, and he has locked himself behind the barbed wire barricade, using his heavily armed security force, hiding behind his fringe far-right Youtube based supporters and religious Christian nut-cases. Why doesn’t he cooperate with the investigators if he is innocent, as he claims?
5) The Constitutional Court will decide on the impeachment due to abuse of power. That does not mean they will deliberate on whether he goes to prison or not. Investigation and any charges of treason or armed rebellion is a separate investigation. If Yoon is found guilty with those charges mentioned, he will be charged separately (nothing to do with the impeachment trial), then if found guilty, he will be sentenced to death (maximum penalty) or he will serve a long prison time. But first, Yoon has to appear in the summons and cooperate with the investigators who will decide if they will charge him.
Before arresting Yoon, shouldn’t the constitutional court rule if a crime was committed?
Are questions like this fueling the disorder and lack of cooperation between agencies interested in following the law and agencies interested in promotion an anti-Yoon, anti-Korean globalist agenda?
“or to maintain the public safety and order”
Doesn’t require war. The mass impeachment of his government did disrupt order, and arguably public safety as we saw with the Muan/Jeju crash. A crash that may have happened because the government position that oversees management of the airlines has been vacant due to DPK obstrction. Order and safety are inherently linked.
“or similar national emergency, the President may proclaim martial law.”
That’s the kicker. What qualifies as “or similar” is ultimately a political question. Not a legal one. Is disaster relief “similar” and thus cquse for martial law? Is not having a government because they all got illegally impeached a similar national emergency?
The rabid “white Asian” still hasn’t answered my question and is going in circles.
I’ll add a few of my points regarding KM’s post.
KM,
What TOK posted highlights the points the Constitutional Court is using to evaluate whether President Yoon should be removed from office.
However, TOK forgot to mention one crucial detail.
He forgot to mention the attempt by Yoon and his co-conspirators to deploy military personnel to seize the Central Election Commission’s servers and arrest its employees.
This action, conducted without a warrant, is itself a problem for Yoon since this is against the law and the constitution.