SEOUL: Tensions escalated outside the South Korean presidential compound on Thursday, January 2, as two rival camps of protesters clashed in dramatic scenes. While one group rallied to prevent the arrest of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, the other camp demanded his immediate detention, creating a volatile standoff.
Yoon, who was impeached last month by lawmakers over his controversial martial law declaration, is under investigation for insurrection. Authorities have issued an arrest warrant and are determined to detain him before Monday. Despite this, hundreds of Yoon’s staunch supporters, including far-right figures and evangelical Christian leaders, gathered outside his residence in Seoul to confront anti-Yoon protesters, with riot police attempting to manage the chaos.
During the protests, one woman threw herself in front of a police bus, while other Yoon supporters lay in the street with crossed arms as officers tried to move them. Park Shi-dong, a 74-year-old protester, expressed his firm stance, saying he was there to “fight to the death to save liberal democracy” and insisted that Yoon’s martial law imposition was justified.
“Impeachment invalid!” and “Yoon Suk Yeol, Yoon Suk Yeol, we protect!” the pro-Yoon protesters chanted, waving South Korean flags and red lightsticks. The protests were widely streamed on YouTube, with some participants shouting “STOP THE INJUSTICE.”
On the previous day, President Yoon reached out to his supporters, watching the protests on YouTube and urging them to help “defend democracy” and “fight to the end.” Critics, however, accused him of manipulating his most radical supporters, which they warned could incite further violence.
Kim Sang-bae, 63, a Yoon supporter, said they would not back down, determined to “stop the injustice” of the president being arrested. The situation has escalated to the point where Yoon’s lawyers argue the arrest warrant is illegal, and his security team has refused to comply with search warrants issued for the president.
Yoon has also defied summonses from the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) on three occasions, which ultimately led to the request for his detention.
Meanwhile, nearby, anti-Yoon protesters held their own rally, singing the national anthem as riot police struggled to separate the two opposing groups. Bae Hoon, 46, an anti-Yoon demonstrator, described being assaulted by pro-Yoon protesters when they tried to hold a press conference. “We were struck on the head and assaulted repeatedly,” Bae said, describing how the situation nearly spiraled into violence.
As tensions mounted, one protester, No Seung-gap, 52, held a large flag that read: “Execute Yoon Suk Yeol,” expressing frustration over what he perceived as a failure of investigators to act swiftly. “I couldn’t sleep for days, so I came out here,” he said, emphasizing that the South Korean public would not tolerate what he saw as an attack on their democracy.
President Yoon’s impeachment is set to undergo a final ruling by the Constitutional Court, while he also faces charges of insurrection that could lead to jail time or even the death penalty. The situation continues to deepen the political divide in South Korea, as both sides prepare for the next phase of this intense political crisis.
