What We Know About South Korea's Presidential Standoff

Muhammad Irfan Published January 03, 2025 | 12:30 AM

Seoul, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Jan, 2025) South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol remained defiantly in his residence in Seoul on Thursday as investigators probing his ill-fated declaration of martial law sought to detain him for questioning.

Investigators have an arrest warrant but Yoon's die-hard supporters, including far-right YouTube personalities, are gathering outside in a bid to protect him, setting up potential clashes with police and anti-Yoon protesters.

AFP takes a look at what we know:

- What's going on? -

Yoon plunged democratic South Korea into political chaos on December 3 with a declaration of martial law that was quickly voted down by lawmakers, prompting an embarrassing U-turn just hours later.

He was impeached and suspended from office over the debacle, and he is being investigated on charges of insurrection -- which is not covered by presidential immunity.

The suspended leader is defiant, sending his hardline supporters a message claiming the country was "in danger" and vowing to fight along side them "to the very end" -- raising fears of a dangerous stand-off.

In that letter, Yoon thanked his far-right supporters for "protecting the constitutional order of liberal democracy".

The message "smacks of despair", said Vladimir Tikhonov, Korean Studies professor at the University of Oslo.

"More than 60 percent of South Koreans want the impeachment to be approved by the Constitutional Court, and this figure includes a significant number of moderate conservatives," he told AFP.

Yoon was now appealing to the far right to protect him from legitimate court orders, Tikhonov said, warning it could lead to violence.