Massive security needed to arrest impeached South Korean President Yoon, experts say

Record ID: 1899101

  • Title: Massive security needed to arrest impeached South Korean President Yoon, experts say
  • Date: 8th January 2025
  • Summary: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (JANUARY 8, 2025) (REUTERS) POLICE BUSES PARKED ALONG ROAD OUTSIDE PRESIDENTIAL RESIDENCE POLICE WALKING VARIOUS OF POLICE ALONG VICINITY OF PRESIDENTIAL RESIDENCE POLICE STANDING BEHIND BARRICADE FORMER SENIOR POLICE OFFICER AND MEMBER OF DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF KOREA, RYU SAM-YOUNG, TYPING IN FRONT OF COMPUTER RYU READING NEWS FROM COMPUTER SCREEN RYU SITT
  • Embargoed: 22nd January 2025 11:24
  • Keywords: South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol arrest impeachment president security
  • Location: SEOUL, SEONGNAM, SOUTH KOREA
  • City: SEOUL, SEONGNAM, SOUTH KOREA
  • Country: South Korea
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001161508012025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Massive security personnel will be needed if South Korean authorities are to make a new arrest attempt of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol for insurrection, experts said on Wednesday (January 8).
    Yoon faces a new and potentially more robust attempt to arrest him for insurrection after a top investigator vowed to do whatever it takes to break a security blockade and take in the embattled leader.
    The Presidential Security Service (PSS) has been fortifying the compound this week with barbed wire and barricades using buses to block access to the residence, a hillside villa in an upscale district known as Korea's Beverly Hills.
    “Since the doors are blocked, and the barricades along with the barbed wire has been set up, it is now necessary to mobilise special forces of the police, and people with special skills to breach the obstacles,” said Ryu Sam-young, a former senior police officer and member of the opposition Democratic Party.
    “If there are around 300 to 400 people inside (the presidential residence), we would need about 10 times that number of personnel, and various equipment to remove the barricades,” he said, adding that safety is paramount in all situations.
    Armoured vehicles could be used to breach the presidential compound and riot squads could be deployed to disperse protesters gathered outside the premises, said Lee Yung-hyeock, a Konkuk University professor specializing in law enforcement.
    “If there is resistance from the presidential security, I think we cannot help but expect a certain degree of clash here or during the entry process,” Lee added.
    Protesters supporting and opposing Yoon braved freezing temperatures to stage rallies on the streets around the presidential compound on Wednesday after a court re-issued a warrant on Tuesday (January 7) to arrest him.
    Yoon is under criminal investigation for insurrection over his failed attempt to impose martial law on Dec. 3, a decision that stunned South Korea and prompted the first arrest warrant for a sitting president. He also faces an impeachment trial in the Constitutional Court.
    Acting president Choi Sang-mok urged on Wednesday authorities to "do their best to prevent any injuries to citizens or physical conflict between government agencies" while executing Yoon's arrest warrant.
    (Production: Adrian Portugal, Joyce Zhou, Jisoo Kim)
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