Critics of the presidential security service call it a relic from the days of South Korea's strongman leaders.

A South Korean court on Tuesday approved an arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk Yeol, the embattled leader who plunged the country into political chaos by his shock decision to declare martial law nearly a month ago.

Behind rows of barbed wire and a small army of personal security, impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol remained holed up in his sprawling hillside villa with his wife, dogs and cats on Tuesday as investigators planned his arrest.

South Korea’s anti-corruption agency dispatched investigators to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday.

Tensions ran high near the residence of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol Thursday, as rival protesters clashed and hundreds of supporters formed a blockade to prevent his imminent arrest.

“South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will accept the decision of the Constitutional Court that is trying parliament’s impeachment case against him, even if it decides to remove the suspended leader from office,” his lawyer said on Thursday (January 9, 2025).

South Korean investigators on Friday were attempting to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived martial law decree last month, as hundreds of his supporters gathered at his residence in Seoul,

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, in a message to conservative supporters, vowed to 'fight to the end' against 'anti-state forces.'

Misinformation continued to surge online in South Korea following President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment over his botched attempt to impose martial law in December 2024. In the latest example, social media posts shared pictures they falsely claimed showed billionaire Elon Musk meeting with Yoon to convey the support of US President-elect Donald Trump .

Yoon Kab-keun, one of the lawyers representing South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, said on Thursday that Yoon was staying in his official residence. The lawyer made the comment in a briefing to reporters following recent speculation over the suspended president's whereabouts.

As impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol fights for his political survival, the embattled leader has found an ally among young conservative men.