S. Korea's presidential security service chief vows to block arrest of impeached Yoon

Supporters of South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol gather in a rally near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Jan. 5, 2025. Chief of South Korea's presidential security service, Park Jong-joon, on Sunday vowed to keep blocking an attempt to arrest the impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol. If the security service, which puts its top priority on the president's absolute safety, complied with the execution of the arrest warrant against Yoon, it would have been a dereliction of duty and an abandonment of presidential security, Park said in a statement. (Photo by Jun Hyosang/Xinhua)

SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chief of South Korea's presidential security service, Park Jong-joon, on Sunday vowed to keep blocking an attempt to arrest the impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol.

If the security service, which puts its top priority on the president's absolute safety, complied with the execution of the arrest warrant against Yoon, it would have been a dereliction of duty and an abandonment of presidential security, Park said in a statement.

Park noted that he would accept any judicial responsibility for his possible errors in his decision to let security service agents confront a group of investigators who raided the presidential residence in central Seoul on Friday to proceed with the warrant to detain Yoon.

After the security service's obstruction of justice led to the botched attempt to arrest Yoon, a wave of denunciations emerged describing the security service as private bodyguards, even with calls that the security service should be disbanded.

The impeachment motion against Yoon was passed in the National Assembly on Dec. 14 last year, and was delivered to the constitutional court to deliberate it for up to 180 days, during which Yoon's presidential power is suspended.

Yoon, who was named by investigative agencies as a suspected ringleader on insurrection charge, declared martial law on the night of Dec. 3, but it was revoked by the National Assembly hours later.

Supporters of South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol gather in a rally near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Jan. 5, 2025. Chief of South Korea's presidential security service, Park Jong-joon, on Sunday vowed to keep blocking an attempt to arrest the impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol. If the security service, which puts its top priority on the president's absolute safety, complied with the execution of the arrest warrant against Yoon, it would have been a dereliction of duty and an abandonment of presidential security, Park said in a statement. (Photo by Jun Hyosang/Xinhua)