Thousands of rival protesters rally in Seoul after Yoon Suk Yeol avoids arrest
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Crowds gather outside South Korean presidential residence where suspended leader is protected by security officers. Thousands of rival South Korean protesters rallied in the capital on Saturday, a day after a failed attempt to arrest the country’s suspended president, Yoon Suk Yeol, for imposing a short-lived martial law decree that led to his impeachment.
![[South Korean investigators halted as impeached president defies arrest warrant – video]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/239a903330eb683146a256b88d6fb8b8ee97c793/0_2_1715_964/1715.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The country has been plunged into political chaos since last month, with Yoon defiantly holed up in the presidential residence, surrounded by hundreds of loyal security officers who have so far resisted efforts by prosecutors to arrest him. Thousands of protesters, for and against Yoon, gathered in front of the residence and along major roads in Seoul on Saturday, either demanding his arrest or calling for his impeachment to be declared invalid.
Kim Chul-hong, 60, a supporter of Yoon, said arresting him could undermine South Korea’s security alliance with the US and Japan. “Protecting President Yoon means safeguarding our country’s security against threats from North Korea,” he said. Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, South Korea’s largest umbrella union, attempted to march to Yoon’s residence to demonstrate against him, but were blocked by police.
It said two of its members were arrested and several others were injured in clashes. Yoon faces criminal charges of insurrection, one of a few crimes not subject to presidential immunity, meaning he could be sentenced to prison or, at worst, the death penalty.
