Hundreds rally for Yoon as new arrest bid beckons

SEOUL

Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol shout slogans during a rally to oppose his impeachment near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025

Hundreds of supporters of South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol rallied outside his home on Wednesday in a bid to protect him as investigators prepared a fresh arrest attempt.

Yoon has refused questioning and resisted arrest after his bungled Dec. 3 martial law decree plunged South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades.

Investigators secured a new arrest warrant on Jan. 7 after an initial seven-day order expired. Several hundred members of his base rushed to the conservative leader's house in central Seoul in response, braving sub-zero temperatures.

Some supporters left flowers outside and ribbons with the Trump-style slogan "Make Korea Great Again!", while others waved American flags at the gates of the compound from where the suspended leader has resisted arrest.

Yoon's legal team said on Wednesday he remains inside his residential compound, after investigators cast doubt on his whereabouts a day earlier.

The Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which is leading the probe into the president, has kept secret the duration of the second warrant it requested after an initial seven-day document expired on Jan. 6.

Yoon would become the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested if investigators are able to detain him.

However, they would only have 48 hours to request another arrest warrant in order to keep him in detention or be forced to release him.