South Korea’s Yoon, facing unprecedented martial law arrest, vows to ‘fight to the end’ By Reuters
By Hyun Young Yi
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s indicted President Yoon Suk Yeol has sent a letter calling on his supporters and saying he will “fight to the end” as he faces an attempt by authorities to impeach him over his short-lived martial law on March 3. The lawyer said on Thursday that he would be arrested in December.
“I’m following all the hard work you’re doing live on YouTube,” Yoon wrote late Wednesday in the letter to the estimated hundreds of supporters who had gathered near his official residence to protest his investigation.
“I will fight to the end to protect this country together with you,” he said in the letter, a photo of which was sent to Reuters by Seok Dong-hyeon, a lawyer advising Yoon.
The opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament and led the impeachment of Yoon on Dec. 14, said the letter proved Yoon was delusional and remained determined to complete his “uprising.”
“As if trying to stage a riot wasn’t enough, he is now inciting his supporters to extreme clashes,” party spokesman Jo Seoung-lae said in a statement.
A court approved an arrest warrant for Yoon on Tuesday, potentially making him the first sitting president to be arrested as part of an investigation into allegations that he launched the insurgency by attempting to impose martial law.
The riot is one of the few criminal charges from which a South Korean president has no immunity.
The Corruption Investigation Office for Senior Officials (CIO), which leads a joint investigative team made up of police and prosecutors, has until January 6 to execute the arrest warrant.
It was unclear when and how the arrest will take place and whether the presidential security service, which has blocked investigators’ access to Yoon’s office and official residence with a search warrant, will try to stop the arrest attempt.
Regardless, Yoon’s impeachment case will be heard by the Constitutional Court. The court will hold the second hearing on Friday. Yoon was suspended from the presidency and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok took over as acting president pending the outcome of the trial.
If the court upholds the impeachment and Yoon is removed from office, there will be a new presidential election within 60 days.
Yoon Kab-keun, a lawyer for the indicted president, said the arrest warrant was illegal and invalid because the CIO did not have the authority to request an arrest warrant under South Korean law.
The arrest warrant for Yoon and a search of his office and home were issued after the conservative career prosecutor resisted repeated requests from investigators to appear for questioning as part of the criminal investigation, which is separate from the constitutional court case.
A former defense minister who officials said recommended Yoon declare martial law has been charged with insurrection and will go on trial on January 16. Some of the top military officers commanding the defense of the capital Seoul have also been charged with alleged involvement.
