Saadet Gokce
13 January 2025•Update: 13 January 2025
ISTANBUL
Acting President Choi Sang-mok reiterated on Monday his call for government agencies to avoid physical confrontation while attempting to execute an arrest warrant against impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol for his failed martial law bid.
"All law enforcement actions must be conducted in a peaceful and restrained manner. Under no circumstances should violence be employed by any involved agencies," the acting president was quoted as saying by Seoul-based Yonhap News.
A joint team led by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials is attempting to execute a court-issued warrant against Yoon after the previous one ended in a five-hour standoff outside his highly fortified official residence in Seoul on Jan. 3.
Yoon's security had blocked the anti-graft body from detaining the impeached president, who faces charges of treason and insurrection over his short-lived martial law of Dec. 3.
Park Chong-jun, the presidential security chief, resigned last week and is currently under investigation by the police.
Earlier on Sunday evening, the anti-graft body sent letters to the Defense Ministry and the Presidential Security Office, requesting cooperation and warning of legal consequences if they did not comply.
Choi's warning comes as Yoon is scheduled to appear before the Constitutional Court for his first hearing on Tuesday.
However, his lawyer Yun Gap-geun said Sunday that the impeached president would attend the hearing if the concerns about “personal safety and mishaps” are resolved.
Yoon shocked the nation when he imposed martial law on the night of Dec. 3, but it was lifted after parliament passed a motion against the move.
The 64-year-old embattled leader was impeached on Dec. 14 and remains suspended from office and state affairs while he is facing a trial by the Constitutional Court.
The state affairs are currently run by the acting President Choi.
