Police vans are lined up in front of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's official residence in Seoul on Jan. 3, 2025.
While reports indicated that officers were able to enter the building, they were stopped from executing the warrant by a military unit.
South Korea has sent multiple presidents to jail following their terms — in fact, two of the three presidents immediately before Yoon served time. But this arrest is unorthodox, says Eurasia Groupexpert Jeremy Chan. Usually, presidents have left office, either through impeachment or the end of their terms, before they are investigated on criminal charges.
“Yoon is a former public prosecutor who knows how to use the legal system,” says Chan. “His supporters are also rallying behind his claims that the insurrection investigation is invalid, further complicating efforts to seek his arrest.”
“The urgency with which the investigators have sought a warrant for Yoon's detention has also fed perceptions that politics rather than legal processes are to blame,” Chan adds.
Yoon has not yet been removed by the court because three of its seats were vacant. Former acting President Han Duck-soo refused to confirm their replacements, which led to him being impeached too, and his replacement agreed earlier this week to nominate for two of the three vacancies.
“Yoon will likely live to fight another day,” says Chan. But the Constitutional Court is also holding its second preparatory hearing for Yoon's impeachment trial on Friday. With eight justices, it is only a matter of time before the court rules to uphold the impeachment motion and formally remove Yoon from office.
“Today's standoff will likely only accelerate the urgency with which the court will proceed in making a ruling on the impeachment motion.”