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.



Kremlin: Putin Would Welcome Trump's Desire for Contacts, But So Far There Have Been No Requests

People take part in New Year celebrations near the Spasskaya tower of the Kremlin and St. Basil’s Cathedral in central Moscow, Russia, January 1, 2025. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina
People take part in New Year celebrations near the Spasskaya tower of the Kremlin and St. Basil’s Cathedral in central Moscow, Russia, January 1, 2025. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina
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Kremlin: Putin Would Welcome Trump's Desire for Contacts, But So Far There Have Been No Requests

People take part in New Year celebrations near the Spasskaya tower of the Kremlin and St. Basil’s Cathedral in central Moscow, Russia, January 1, 2025. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina
People take part in New Year celebrations near the Spasskaya tower of the Kremlin and St. Basil’s Cathedral in central Moscow, Russia, January 1, 2025. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin would welcome US President-elect Donald Trump's desire for contacts, but so far there have been no requests for contact.
It would be more appropriate to wait for Trump to take office first, Peskov said.