Seoul’s foreign ministry has disclosed that US Secretary of state, Antony Blinken will visit South Korea for talks next week, with the country mired in political turmoil as its impeached President resists arrest.
South Korea is a key security ally for Washington, but the country has been racked by a crisis sparked by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed martial law decree on December 3, 2024.
According to Seoul’s foreign ministry statement, Blinken will meet his counterpart, Cho Tae-yul, on Monday, January 6, 2025.
It added that Blinken and Cho are expected to discuss the South Korea-US alliance, South Korea-US-Japan cooperation, North Korea issues, and regional and global challenges.
Investigators probing Yoon’s declaration of martial law made an attempt to enforce a warrant for his arrest on Friday but it was repelled by presidential security guards. That warrant expires on January 6, the same day Blinken plans to meet Cho.
Last month, Washington said that it would “speak out” to South Korea to safeguard democracy after Yoon’s bungled declaration.
US National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, said, “South Korea’s democracy is robust and resilient, and we’re going to continue to speak out publicly and engage privately with South Korean counterparts to reinforce the importance of that continuing.”
South Korean Investigators Call Off Yoon’s Arrest
South Korean investigators called off their attempt to arrest impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed martial law bid on Friday, January 3, 2025, because of a standoff at his residence.
The Corruption Investigation Office said in a statement, “Regarding the execution of the arrest warrant today, it was determined that the execution was effectively impossible due to the ongoing standoff.”
It added that concern for the safety of personnel on-site led to the decision to halt the execution.
South Korea’s presidential guards and military troops warded off authorities from arresting Yoon.
Yoon is under criminal investigation for insurrection over his December 3, 2024, martial law bid that stunned South Korea and led to the first arrest warrant to be issued for a sitting President.
A Seoul court issued a warrant for Yoon’s detention on early this week, but enforcing it is complicated as long as he remains in his official residence.
CIO officials and police evaded hundreds of Yoon supporters who gathered in pre-dawn hours near his residence on Friday, vowing to block the arrest “with our lives.”
More than 200 PSS agents and soldiers blocked the CIO officers and police, he added. While there were altercations and PSS agents appeared to be carrying firearms, no weapons were drawn.
The country’s anti-corruption agency said it withdrew its investigators after the presidential security service blocked them from entering Yoon’s residence for hours due to concerns about their safety. The agency expressed “serious regret about the attitude of the suspect, who did not respond to a process by law.”
After the arrest effort was suspended, Yoon’s legal team said the CIO had no authority to investigate insurrection and it was regrettable that it had tried to execute an illegal warrant in a sensitive security area. The statement warned police against supporting the arrest effort.
Yoon, a former prosecutor, has defied investigators’ attempts to question him for weeks.
The last time he is known to have left the residence was on December 12, 2024, when he went to the nearby presidential office to make a televised statement to the nation, making a defiant statement that he will fight efforts to oust him.
Nonetheless, South Korea’s Constitutional Court said on Friday, January 3, 2025, that it will hold first arguments on January 14, 2025, in a trial to decide whether to oust President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Yoon is required to appear for the first arguments.
The court said that it has planned a second session for January 16, 2025, in case Yoon refuses to appear for the first arguments.
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