South Koreans protest in snow as Yoon arrest deadline nears

BLINKEN WADES IN

The country’s opposition Democratic Party called for the dissolution of the security service protecting Yoon after investigators met a wall of hundreds of security forces preventing access to him.

“The Presidential Security Service has violated the constitution, effectively positioning itself as a force of insurrection,” floor leader Park Chan-dae told parliament Saturday.

“There is no longer any justification for its existence.”

The service’s top officials refused a police request Saturday for questioning, citing the “serious nature” of protecting Yoon.

The Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), probing the martial law declaration, and the opposition urged acting president Choi Sang-mok – in office for just a week and a party colleague of Yoon – to order the presidential security service to cooperate.

Late Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives in Seoul, likely to wade into the crisis of a key security ally in talks Monday with his counterpart Cho Tae-yul.

He is expected to delicately encourage continuity with the policies, but not tactics, of the impeached president.

Yoon’s lawyers decried Friday’s arrest attempt as “unlawful and invalid”, and vowed to take legal action.

In scenes of high drama, Yoon’s guards and military troops shielded him from investigators who eventually called off Friday’s arrest attempt citing safety concerns.

The Constitutional Court slated January 14 for the start of Yoon’s impeachment trial, which if he does not attend would continue in his absence.

South Korea’s Constitutional Court has up to 180 days to determine whether to dismiss Yoon as president or restore his powers.

Until then, while suspended, Yoon holds the title of president.

Former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye never appeared for their impeachment trials.