San Francisco Frontiers - South Korea investigators, police enter Yoon residence in fresh arrest bid

Yoon has resisted arrest since his short-lived December 3 power grab plunged the country into its worst political crisis in decades, after he directed soldiers to storm parliament in a bid to stop lawmakers from voting down his move.

The former star prosecutor, who has already been suspended from duty by lawmakers, would become the first sitting president in South Korean history to be arrested if the court-ordered warrant is carried out.

"We don't know the exact number of people who are in the residence but there are prosecutors," an official from the Corruption Investigation Office, probing Yoon's failed martial law decree, told reporters.

Before entering, investigators were involved in brief clashes with those defending the residence, AFP journalists saw.

Yoon's lawyer, Seok Dong-hyeon, wrote on Facebook that negotiations were ongoing for the president to voluntarily appear because of the "risk of a serious situation" between investigators and Yoon's presidential security service.

In a morning of high drama, a hundreds-strong unarmed team of investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) and police officers tried to enter the residential compound but were blocked by unidentified personnel at the entrance gate, AFP journalists saw.

"The execution of the presidential arrest warrant has begun," acting President Choi Sang-mok said Wednesday in a statement.

"This situation is a crucial moment for maintaining order and the rule of law in South Korea."

TV footage showed investigators climbing ladders into Yoon's residential compound and AFP images showed scores of officers with "police" and "CIO" marked on their backs inside.

They were also seen marching up the roads leading to Yoon's hillside residence, holding ladders after entering the compound from at least two different entrances, an AFP journalist said.

Yoon's lawyers were earlier seen in front of the residence protesting the arrest warrant's execution.

Choi, standing in for the suspended Yoon, said those responsible for "serious violations leading to unfortunate incidents" at the site would be punished.

A first attempt to arrest Yoon on January 3 failed after a tense hours-long standoff with his Presidential Security Service (PSS), who refused to budge when investigators tried to execute their warrant.

- Supporters removed -

Investigators were also attempting to enter the residence via an alternative mountain hiking trail, according to the CIO.

As they moved in on Yoon's residence, police arrested the acting head of the presidential guard, Kim Seong-hun, on Wednesday, Yonhap reported.

The main road in front of Yoon's residence was completely blocked off with police bus barricades early Wednesday, while thousands of his die-hard supporters massed outside.

His supporters were heard chanting "illegal warrant!" while waving glow sticks and South Korean and American flags. Some laid on the ground outside the residential compound's main gate.

Police and CIO officers began forcibly removing them from the entrance to the residence while around 30 lawmakers from Yoon's ruling People Power Party also blocked investigators, Yonhap News TV reported.

Since the first failed bid, authorities have threatened to detain anyone who obstructs the sitting leader's arrest.

- Parallel trial -

Yoon's guards have installed barbed wire and barricades at the residence, turning it into what the opposition called a "fortress".

Due to the tense situation, police decided not to carry firearms but only to wear bulletproof vests for the new attempt Wednesday, in case they were met by armed guards, local media reported.

If arrested, Yoon can be held for up to 48 hours on the existing warrant. Investigators would need to apply for another arrest warrant to keep him in custody.

Yoon's legal team -- who say he remains inside the residence -- has decried the warrant as illegal.

In a parallel probe, Yoon's impeachment trial began Tuesday with a brief hearing after he declined to attend.

Although his failure to attend -- which his team has blamed on purported safety concerns -- forced a procedural adjournment, the hearings will continue without Yoon, with the next set for Thursday.

R.Baker--SFF