When about 100 criminal investigators and police entered the hilly area of central Seoul on Friday morning, they attempted to achieve something unprecedented in South Korea: arresting a sitting president.
First, they passed through two areas blocked by parked cars and people. When they got within 650 meters of the building where President Yoon Suk Yeol was believed to be imprisoned, they came face to face with an even more terrifying barrage: 10 buses and cars and 200 high-ranking soldiers and Mr. Yoon’s Presidential Security Service. Small arguments broke out as investigators tried to break in and issue a court-ordered arrest warrant for Mr. Yoon.
Three prosecutors were allowed to approach the building. But there, the lawyers of Mr. Yoon told them that they could not issue a warrant because it was “illegal”, according to officials who told the media about what happened inside the compound.
Outnumbered, 100 officers withdrew after a standoff that lasted five and a half hours.
“It is deeply regrettable,” the Office of Corruption Investigation, the independent government agency that led the raid on the president, said in a statement on Friday. It accused Mr. Yoon – who has been suspended after being impeached by Parliament last month – for refusing to comply with a court order. “We will discuss what our next step should be.”
The failure to deliver a deeply unpopular president deepened a growing sense of helplessness among South Koreans, fueled by the country’s deeply divided politics. The nation seems to be without a clue and distracted by fighting while facing major challenges at home and internationally.
There is already uncertainty about its alliance with the United States as the unexpected Donald J. Trump prepares to return to the White House. Seoul’s decades-old enemy North Korea is seeking to score propaganda points in the South’s political turmoil, as its media reports that its neighbor is in “paralysis of governance and escalating social unrest.”
And, at home, the crash of a Jeju Air passenger jet that killed 179 of the 181 people on board on Sunday added to the list of challenges ranging from widespread labor strikes to rising household debt. On Thursday, the Ministry of Finance significantly reduced its growth rate for 2025.
The Constitutional Court is considering whether to remove Mr. Yoon, who was dismissed on December 14 by the National Assembly. That came after he suddenly declared martial law 11 days ago, sparking national outrage and calling for his ouster.
On Friday, Mr. The besieged Yoon vowed to fight to return to office through a trial at the Constitutional Court and indicated that he was not willing to commit to a criminal investigation. Mr. Yoon faces accusations of treason by sending troops to the National Assembly during his temporary military rule.
By refusing to honor the warrant, Mr. Yoon “has been adding more reasons that he should be impeached,” said Lim Ji-bong, a law professor at Sogang University in Seoul.
“He may think that he survived today, but what he did today will never go down well with the judges of the Constitutional Court and the judges who will eventually try his case of treason.”
Mr. Yoon is not the first South Korean politician to defy a court order to detain them. In 1995, prosecutors sought to question former military dictator Chun Doo-hwan on treason and treason charges stemming from his role in the 1979 coup and the massacre of protesters the following year. He defied the order and headed for his hometown followed by a crowd of supporters.
Prosecutors chased him there. After arguing one night, Mr. Chun surrendered.
But unlike Mr. Yoon, Mr. Chun was out of office when he was charged with treason. Mr. Yoon, although suspended, remains under full-backed surveillance by the Presidential Security Service, a government agency that employs elite security teams and counter-terrorism experts drawn from the police, military and other government services.
“People who saw him relying on his bodyguards as a shield in his legal troubles will see him as a coward,” said Mr Lim.
The investigators warned that they will charge the president’s bodyguards with the case of obstructing the operation of the law.
“We will do everything possible to provide security for our purpose according to the laws and regulations,” said the Presidential Security Service in a statement.
Public opinion polls showed that the majority of South Koreans wanted Mr. Yoon was deposed and punished for treason. But his ruling party, which opposes his impeachment, has condemned efforts to arrest him.
Mr. Yoon also has strong supporters – mostly among older South Koreans. Thousands of his fans camped out on the pavement for days, chanting, “Let’s protect Yoon Suk Yeol!”
In his New Year’s message, Mr. Yoon called them “citizens who love freedom and democracy” and thanked them for braving the cold to show their support on the street near his home.
“I will fight with you until the end to save this country,” said Mr. Yoon.
When the officials came out of the compound of Mr. Yoon, they shouted: “We won!”
The protesters who were complaining about the arrest of Mr. Yoon started meeting again on Friday, marching near Mr.’s house. Yoon and shouting “Arrest Yoon Suk Yeol!” They, along with the country’s opposition parties, expressed frustration at the failure to arrest Mr. Yoon, calling his presidential security unit “complicit” with the coup.
“I’m angry,” said Lee Ye-seul, 19, a student at a university in Seoul. “I will speak until he is released and the people involved in the rebellion are punished.”
To the fans of Mr. Yoon outside his residence, the security forces were the last line of defense for Mr. Yoon.
“The presidential guard should throw bombs if necessary to prevent them from approaching the president,” said Lee Young-jin, 65.
But the strategy of Mr. Yoon’s political divisiveness to avoid his legal troubles is not well-received in South Korea, said Ahn Byong-jin, a professor of political science at Kyung Hee University in Seoul.
“It exposed the weakness of South Korea as a democracy,” he said.
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