6-1-2025 (SEOUL) The head of security for impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol has refused to cooperate with authorities seeking to arrest the suspended leader, setting the stage for a potential constitutional showdown.
Park Chong-jun, chief of the presidential security service, issued a forceful statement Sunday defending his position amidst mounting pressure to execute an arrest warrant that expires Monday at midnight. Park rebuffed accusations that the security service had devolved into a “private army,” emphasising its six-decade legacy of protecting presidents across party lines.
The defiance comes after a Seoul court dismissed a legal challenge from Yoon’s defence team questioning the warrant’s validity. Yoon faces unprecedented charges of insurrection following his controversial attempt to impose martial law on 3 December, making him the first sitting South Korean president to face potential arrest.
The political turbulence has sent shockwaves through Asia’s fourth-largest economy, with thousands of demonstrators braving sub-zero temperatures and heavy snowfall to rally both for and against the president in central Seoul. Labour leader Yang Kyung-soo of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions demanded swift action, declaring that “we must bring down the criminal Yoon Suk Yeol.”
Meanwhile, Yoon’s supporters, echoing rhetoric from American politics, brandished placards reading “Stop the Steal” alongside messages of solidarity with the embattled president. Security forces have fortified the presidential complex with barbed wire and bus barricades as tensions escalate.
The standoff intensified after Friday’s failed arrest attempt, when presidential security and military personnel prevented investigators from accessing Yoon for six hours. Park vehemently denied opposition claims that he had authorised the use of live ammunition during the confrontation.
Yoon’s legal team has challenged the authority of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) to handle insurrection cases, threatening legal action against the agency’s chief, Oh Dong-woon.
As the crisis unfolds, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s scheduled arrival in Seoul adds an international dimension to the domestic turmoil facing this key American ally. Acting President Choi Sang-mok has called for restraint, urging all parties to ensure public safety during law enforcement operations.
