Thousands of South Korean police officers are trying to attack President Yoon’s residence: who is responsible?

Outside the president’s residence in Seoul, a standoff is taking place as police try to comply with a warrant for the arrest of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeoli.

The shutdown has followed throughout the day, also attracting crowds of protesters, which began as a massive security operation in the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday (local time). This is the second and biggest time that a sitting president has been attempted to be arrested.

This is all due to the president’s failed attempt last month to impose martial law, after which lawmakers accused him of a possible uprising.

The Washington Post reports, “In extraordinary scenes unfolding in the early hours of Wednesday morning, rows of police buses blocked the main road outside the president’s residence in one of Seoul’s most rickety neighborhoods, stopping traffic and forcing city buses and courier vehicles to turn around.”

“The number of Yoon supporters – 6,500 of them according to police – gathered outside the residence, apparently trying to prevent the operation. Some had been camping on the street outside his residence for days,” the report continues.

The Yonhap news agency says about 3,000 police officers are involved in the operation. Other reports say it’s at least 1,000 officers. Efforts to loot the presidential residence have stalled as lawmakers from Yoon’s conservative People’s Party have made a big show, forming at one point a human chain to prevent police from entering.

According to the latest BBC update: “At the moment, it seems that the police are pushing the residence – entering from several points.” Authorities are also trying to spoil the back of the compound.

Pre-dawn scene outside Yoon’s residence:

Clearly, a constitutional crisis is unfolding as the courts and Yeol – along with loyal lawmakers – argue about who else is running the government:

This is a picture of the political crisis that South Korea is in.

You have two branches of the executive branch: the police — essentially, law enforcement officers who have a lawful arrest warrant they’re trying to execute — and the president’s security guards who block them.

This raises the question of who exactly is responsible.

The Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which is leading the police raid, claims it has the legal right to arrest, while the People’s Party has declared the operation illegal.

In the midst of the chaos, signs of “Stop stealing” are noticed:

The BBC has published the following timeline of the turbulent events that led to the shutdown at the president’s residence, as follows:

• December 3: President Yoon declared martial law, plunging South Korea into political chaos — hours later he was forced to retreat as furious protesters and lawmakers gathered before the National Assembly. He then apologized for his actions and said they would not happen again
• December 7: Opposition MPs tried, but failed, to blame Yoon for missing a handful of votes

• December 14: Yoon was suspended from office after another vote in which lawmakers voted to remove him, but the president can only be removed from office if the country’s constitutional court confirms the decision
• December 31: A South Korean court issued an arrest warrant for Yoon
• January 3: Dozens of investigators attempted to arrest him but then surrendered after a six-hour standoff with the Presidential Security Service (PSS) outside his official residence
• January 14: South Korea’s Constitutional Court held its first session to decide whether the president, who has been removed from office, should be removed from office – the hearing ended in just four minutes due to Yoon’s absence, and the next trial is scheduled for Thursday

Despite the country’s highest court issuing an order, it has not responded to any subpoenas, and investigators have been unable to contact Yoon.