South Korea’s Yoon, facing unprecedented arrest over martial law, vows to ‘fight until end’ By Reuters

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By Hyun Young Yi

SEOUL (Reuters) – Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has sent a letter rallying supporters saying he will “fight to the end” as authorities seek to arrest him following a brief Dec. 3 martial law. the lawyer said Thursday.

“I’ve been watching all the hard work you’ve done live on YouTube,” Yoon wrote in an email late Wednesday to hundreds of supporters who gathered outside 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-hyun, a lawyer advising Yoon.

The opposition Democratic Party, which controls the majority of parliament and led the impeachment of Yun on December 14, said the letter proved Yun was delusional and remained committed to ending his “rebellion”.

“As if trying to stage a rebellion wasn’t enough, he is now inciting his supporters to extreme conflict,” party spokesman Jo Sun Lae said in a statement.

On Tuesday, a court approved Yun’s arrest warrant, potentially making him the first sitting president to be detained as part of an investigation into allegations that he orchestrated a rebellion in an attempt to impose martial law.

Sedition is one of the few criminal charges from which the South Korean president is not immune.

The Corruption Perceptions Office (CIO), which leads a joint team of investigators that includes police and prosecutors, has until January 6 to execute the arrest warrant.

It was unclear when or how he would make the arrest, and whether the presidential security service, which has blocked investigators from entering Yun’s office and official residence with a search warrant, would try to thwart the arrest attempt.

The trial of Yun’s impeachment is heard separately in the Constitutional Court. The court will hold the second session on Friday. Yoon was suspended from his presidential duties and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok took over as acting president pending the outcome of the trial.

If the court upholds the impeachment and Yun is removed from office, new presidential elections will be held within 60 days.

Eun Kab Cain, a lawyer for the impeached president, said the arrest warrant was illegal and invalid because the CIO did not have the authority under South Korean law to request a warrant.

The warrant for Yun’s arrest, as well as searches of his office and residence, was issued after the conservative career prosecutor refused repeated summonses from investigators to appear before the criminal investigation, separate from the Constitutional Court trial.

The former defense minister, who officials said had recommended martial law, was charged with sedition and will stand trial on January 16.