South Korea Investigators Ask Acting President to Clear Way for Yoon's Arrest

Protest against Yoon Suk Yeol, Seoul, January 4, 2025. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
Protest against Yoon Suk Yeol, Seoul, January 4, 2025. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
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South Korea Investigators Ask Acting President to Clear Way for Yoon's Arrest

Protest against Yoon Suk Yeol, Seoul, January 4, 2025. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
Protest against Yoon Suk Yeol, Seoul, January 4, 2025. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

South Korean investigators again asked the country's acting president on Saturday to order the presidential security service to comply with an arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The security service, along with military troops, on Friday prevented prosecutors from arresting Yoon Suk Yeol in a six-hour standoff inside Yoon's compound. The investigators secured the warrant to arrest Yoon over his brief declaration of martial law last month, Reuters reported.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials said on Saturday it had again asked acting President Choi Sang-mok, the nation's finance minister, to order the presidential security service to cooperate with the warrant.

A finance ministry spokesperson declined to comment.

Yoon's Dec. 3 martial declaration stunned South Korea and led to the first arrest warrant to be issued for a sitting president.



Over 12,300 Civilians Killed since Start of Ukraine War, UN says

A woman reacts at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in central Kyiv, Ukraine, December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo
A woman reacts at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in central Kyiv, Ukraine, December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo
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Over 12,300 Civilians Killed since Start of Ukraine War, UN says

A woman reacts at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in central Kyiv, Ukraine, December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo
A woman reacts at the site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in central Kyiv, Ukraine, December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo

More than 12,300 civilians have been killed in the Ukraine war since Russia invaded nearly three years ago, a UN official said on Wednesday, noting higher casualties in recent months amid the use of drones, long-range missiles and glide bombs, according to Reuters.

"Russian armed forces intensified their operations to capture further territory in eastern Ukraine, with a severe impact on civilians in frontline areas, particularly in the Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions," Nada Al-Nashif, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement, referring to developments since September 2024.

"We are deeply concerned by the impacts on civilians of the increased use of drones and the use of new weapons," she added, referring in part to Russia's use of highly destructive guided bombs or glide bombs in residential areas.