South Korean investigators have failed to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol after a nearly six-hour standoff with his security service.
It is the latest confrontation of a political crisis that has paralysed South Korean politics and seen two heads of state impeached in under a month.
The country’s anti-corruption agency said it withdrew its investigators after they were blocked from entering Mr Yoon’s official residence due to concerns about the safety of its members.
The agency expressed “serious regret about the attitude of the suspect, who did not respond to a process by law”.
Mr Yoon, a former prosecutor, has defied investigators’ attempts to question him for weeks.
Read more on South Korea:
The South Koreans who stood up to martial law
Who is the president who declared martial law?
The last time he is known to have left the residence was on 12 December.
Investigators from the country’s anti-corruption agency are weighing charges of rebellion after Mr Yoon, apparently frustrated that his policies were blocked by an opposition-dominated parliament, declared martial law on 3 December and dispatched troops to surround the National Assembly.
Police vans lined up in front of Yoon’s Seoul residence. Pic: AP
Parliament overturned the declaration within hours in an unanimous vote and impeached Mr Yoon, accusing him of rebellion, while South Korean anti-corruption authorities and public prosecutors opened separate investigations into the events.
A Seoul court issued a warrant for Mr Yoon’s detention on Tuesday, but enforcing it is complicated as long as he remains in his official residence.
Nearly five hours after dozens of investigators and police officers were seen entering the gate of the residence in Seoul to execute the warrant, the dramatic scene appeared to have developed into a standoff.
Seok Dong-hyeon, one of several lawyers on Yoon’s legal team, confirmed the investigators arrived at the building and said the agency’s efforts to detain Yoon were “reckless” and showed an “outrageous discard for law.”
South Korea’s Defence Ministry confirmed the investigators and police officers got past a military unit guarding the residence’s grounds before arriving at the building.
The presidential security service, which controls the residence itself, refused to comment on whether its members were confronting investigators.
The liberal opposition Democratic Party called on the country’s acting leader, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, to order the presidential security service to stand down.
Mr Yoon’s defence minister, police chief and several top military commanders have already been arrested over their roles in the period of martial law.
