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South Korean investigators were attempting to arrest President Yoon Suk Yeol as part of a probe into alleged treason and abuse of power after his failed attempt last month to impose martial law.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials said early on Friday local time that it had begun to execute an arrest warrant for Yoon.
A team of officials from the office entered Yoon’s residence in central Seoul, television footage showed, with almost 3,000 police officers present in the area.
If arrested, Yoon will be the first incumbent South Korean president to be detained.
Yoon unleashed an acute political crisis in South Korea with his failed effort to impose martial law.
He was impeached by parliament last month, but the move has to be approved by the country’s constitutional court.
The independent agency is expected to question Yoon over possible insurrection after he allegedly dispatched troops to the national assembly in an attempt to prevent lawmakers from rejecting his shortlived martial law decree.
Yoon on Wednesday sent a letter to hundreds of his supporters rallying outside his residence.
“The country is in jeopardy due to anti-state forces. I’ll fight until the end to protect the nation together with you,” he said in the letter.
This is a developing story.
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