South Korea’s impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has rallied his supporters in a letter saying he will “fight until the end” as he faces an attempt by authorities to arrest him over his short-lived declaration of martial law, a lawyer said.
“I am watching on YouTube live all the hard work you are doing,” Yoon wrote late on Wednesday to the hundreds of supporters who had gathered near his official residence to protest against the investigation into him.
“I will fight until the end to protect this country together with you,” he said in the letter, a photo capture of which was sent to the media by Seok Dong-hyeon, a lawyer advising Yoon.
The opposition Democratic party, which has majority control of parliament and led the impeachment of Yoon on 14 December after his declaration of martial law on 3 December, said the letter proved Yoon was delusional and that he remained committed to completing his “insurrection”.
“As if trying to stage insurrection wasn’t enough, he is now inciting his supporters to an extreme clash,” a party spokesperson, Jo Seoung-lae, said in a statement.
A court on Tuesday approved a warrant for Yoon’s arrest, which would potentially make him the first sitting president to be detained as part of investigations over allegations he masterminded insurrection by trying to impose martial law.
Insurrection is one of the few criminal charges from which a South Korean president does not have immunity.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (CIO), which is leading a joint team of investigators that includes police officers and prosecutors, has until 6 January to execute the arrest warrant.
It was unclear when and how it would make the arrest and whether the presidential security service, which has blocked investigators’ access to Yoon’s office and official residence despite them having a search warrant, would try to stop any arrest.
Yoon Kab-keun, a lawyer for the impeached president, has claimed the arrest warrant is illegal and invalid because the CIO does not have the authority under South Korean law to request a warrant.
The lawyer warned on Thursday that police officers would face arrest by “the presidential security service or any citizens” if they tried to detain Yoon on behalf of the CIO, saying its authority was limited to crowd control and maintaining public order.
Separately, the second hearing of Yoon’s impeachment trial will be heard at the constitutional court on Friday. Yoon has been suspended from presidential duties and the finance minister, Choi Sang-mok, has taken over as acting president until the outcome of the trial.
If the court upholds the impeachment and Yoon is removed from office, a presidential election will be held within 60 days.
The warrant for Yoon’s arrest and a search of his office and residence was issued after the conservative career prosecutor defied repeated summons by investigators to appear for questioning in the criminal investigation separate from the constitutional court trial.
A former defence minister, who officials said recommended to Yoon that he declare martial law, has been indicted on charges of insurrection and will go on trial on 16 January. Some of the top military officers commanding the defence of the capital, Seoul, have also been indicted for their alleged involvement.
Source: theguardian.com
