South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s security chief said Sunday he will not be able to cooperate in efforts to arrest the ousted leader, in comments that could turn the political crisis into another high-stakes confrontation.
With an arrest warrant for Yoon for insurrection set to expire at midnight Monday (12 p.m. ET), official Park Chong-jun cited the legal debate surrounding the warrant as the reason for the lack of cooperation.
“Please refrain from offensive comments that the Presidential Security Service has been reduced to a private army,” he said in a statement, adding that the service has provided security to every president for 60 years, regardless of his political affiliation.
The comments came after a Seoul court rejected an objection from Yoon’s lawyers saying the arrest warrant was illegal and invalid, Yonhap news agency reported. Calls to the court seeking comment were not returned.
“Judging the legitimacy of any legal interpretation and application is difficult,” Seok Dong-hyeon, a lawyer assisting Yoon, said on Facebook.
“If there was a lapse in the legality of law enforcement against the sitting president, it would be a big problem.”
Yoon became the first sitting South Korean president to be jailed over his failed attempt to declare martial law on Dec. 3, which triggered political chaos in Asia’s fourth-largest economy and a key U.S. ally.
The conservative president has been dismissed by Parliament and suspended from his official duties while the Constitutional Court will decide whether to reinstate or dismiss him.
Source: Terra

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