Yonhap reported the arrest of the acting head of South Korea's presidential security service
South Korean police have arrested Kim Sung-hoon, acting chief of security for the country's president. This was reported by Yonhap agency on January 17.
Kim Sung-hoon was arrested immediately upon his arrival for questioning at the headquarters of the National Investigation Office in Seoul, the publication specified. He is accused of obstructing the arrest of South Korean President Yun Seok-yol on Jan. 3.
It is also noted that Kim Sung-hoon had previously failed to show up for questioning at the office three times, which was the basis for seeking an arrest warrant for him.
"The reason why I have so far refused to submit to the execution of the warrant was because I wanted to correct the extrajudicial and illegal warrants of the Office for the Investigation of Crimes of High-ranking Government Officials, which has no investigative powers," the acting head of the security service told reporters.
According to the agency, law enforcement agencies planned to arrest former Deputy Director Kim when executing the second arrest warrant for the president on Jan. 15, but failed to execute the warrant for Deputy Director Kim's arrest at the request of the South Korean leader.
Earlier on Jan. 15, investigators arrested South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol. Several prosecutors and investigators traveled from the police department to the presidential residence in Seoul to execute the arrest.
For his part, Yoon Seok-yeol said that his arrest was a "voluntary appearance." He also added that he went along with the investigators to avoid "bloodshed."
According to his lawyer, the president spent the entire night in a Seoul detention center and before that he participated in an interrogation that lasted more than 10 hours. Due to his ill health, Yoon Seok-yeol will not attend further questioning.
In late December, the court issued the first arrest warrant for Yoon Seok Yeol. On January 3, it was reported that law enforcers arrived at the South Korean president's residence to arrest him. It was specified that a total of about 150 law enforcement officers were sent - about 30 employees of the anti-corruption investigation office for high-ranking officials and 120 police officers. At the time, it was also reported that the president's security service did not allow the investigation to search his residence in Seoul. The warrant for the re-arrest of the President of the Republic was issued on January 7.
The situation in the Republic of Korea escalated in early December 2024, when President Yun Seok-yol declared martial law. The reason for such a step he called the threat of paralysis of power, arising from attempts to conduct impeachment proceedings. Commander of the emergency regime - Chief of Staff of the Ground Forces Park Ahn-soo noted that until the lifting of martial law in the republic prohibited the activities of the parliament, political parties and associations. Military equipment was brought to the streets of Seoul.