South Korea faces political crisis as impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol resists arrest

South Korea's political leadership found itself in uncharted territory on Saturday after the sitting president resisted arrest over a failed martial law decree, just days before the warrant expired.

In dramatic scenes on Friday, Yoon Suk-yeol's presidential guards and military troops shielded the former star prosecutor from investigators, who called off their arrest attempt, citing safety concerns.

The South Korean president was impeached and suspended last month after the bungled martial law declaration – a political move swiftly overturned by parliament – with a separate warrant later issued for his arrest.

"There was a standoff. While we estimated the personnel blocking us to be around 200, there could have been more," an official from the investigation team said on Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It was a dangerous situation."

Yoon faces criminal charges of insurrection, one of the few crimes not subject to presidential immunity.

If carried out, the warrant would make Yoon the first sitting president ever to be arrested.

Since his impeachment, Yoon has holed up in his presidential residence in the capital, Seoul, where he has refused to emerge for questioning on three occasions.

The unprecedented showdown – which reportedly included clashes but no shots fired – left the arrest attempt by investigators in limbo, with the court-ordered warrant set to expire on Monday.

Officials from the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), which is probing Yoon over his martial law decree, said there could be another attempt to arrest him before the warrant expires.

However, if the warrant lapses, they would have to apply for a new one from the same Seoul court that issued the original summons.

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The Constitutional Court has slated January 14 for the start of Yoon's impeachment trial, which will continue in his absence if he does not attend. Former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye never appeared for their impeachment trials.

Yoon's lawyers condemned Friday's arrest attempt as "unlawful and invalid" and vowed to take legal action.

South Korean media reported that CIO officials had wanted to arrest Yoon and take him to their office in Gwacheon, near Seoul, for questioning.

After that, he could have been held for up to 48 hours on the existing warrant. Investigators would have needed to apply for a new arrest warrant to keep him in custody.

Yoon has remained defiant despite the political impasse he initiated with his December 3 decree. He told his right-wing supporters this week that he would fight "to the very end" for his political survival.

The weeks of political turmoil are believed to have threatened the country's stability.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance on Thursday cut its economic growth outlook for 2025, with GDP forecast to grow 1.8 percent, down from 2.2 percent estimated in July 2024.

South Korea's ongoing political impasse is expected to hurt the country's businesses, especially its dominant semiconductor industry, according to Chen Jiahe, chief investment officer at Novem Arcae Technologies.

An unstable political environment would prompt local businesses to reduce investment and retain cash for future uncertainties, and global clients of South Korean chipmakers may look for alternative sources, Chen told CGTN's Global Business.

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(With input from agencies)