South Korean protesters brave cold to demand Yoon's ouster as detention deadline looms

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Hundreds of South Koreans, bundled up against freezing temperatures and snow, rallied overnight into Sunday near the residence of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, calling for his ouster and arrest, as authorities prepared to renew their efforts to detain him over his short-lived martial law decree.

Dozens of anti-corruption agency investigators and police attempted to execute a detainment warrant against Yoon on Friday but retreated from his residence in Seoul after a tense standoff with the presidential security service that lasted more than five hours.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials is weighing charges of rebellion after the conservative president, apparently frustrated that his policies were blocked by a legislature dominated by the liberal opposition, declared martial law on Dec. 3 and dispatched troops to surround the National Assembly.

The Assembly overturned the declaration within hours in a unanimous vote and impeached Yoon on Dec. 14, accusing him of rebellion, while South Korean anti-corruption authorities and public prosecutors opened separate investigations into the events.

Last Tuesday, a Seoul court issued a warrant to detain Yoon and a separate warrant to search his residence after the embattled president defied authorities by refusing to appear for questioning. But enforcing them is complicated as long as Yoon remains in his official residence.

The one-week warrant for his detention is valid through Monday. Staff from the presidential security service were seen installing barbed wire near the gate and hills leading up to Yoon’s residence over the weekend, possibly in preparation for another detention attempt.

If the anti-corruption agency manages to detain Yoon, it will likely ask a court for permission to make a formal arrest. Otherwise, Yoon will be released after 48 hours.

As hundreds of anti-Yoon protesters rallied for hours near the gate of the presidential residence, pro-Yoon protesters gathered in nearby streets, vowing to protect him. Both groups were separated by police barricades and buses.

“With barely a day left before the execution deadline for Yoon Seok Yeol’s detainment warrant, the presidential security service continues to hide a criminal and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials cannot be more relaxed,” Kim Eun-jeong, an activist, said on a stage during the anti-Yoon rally.

Park Chan-dae, floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, called on the anti-corruption agency to move quickly to detain Yoon, accusing the agency of “hesitating and letting time slip away.”

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, which is leading a joint investigation with police and military investigators, has urged the country’s acting leader, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, to instruct the presidential security service to comply with their execution of the detainment warrant. Choi has yet to publicly comment on the issue.

Park Jong-joon, chief of the presidential security service, hit back against criticism that his organization has become Yoon's private army, saying it has legal obligations to protect the incumbent president. Park said he instructed his members not to use violence during Friday's standoff and called for the anti-corruption agency and police to change their approach.

Park and his deputy defied summonses on Saturday from police, who planned to question them over the suspected obstruction of official duty following Friday’s events.

While the presidential security act mandates protection for Yoon, it does not authorize the service to block court-ordered detainments, which may amount to an obstruction of official duty, said Park Sung-bae, an attorney specializing in criminal law. While the president mostly has immunity from prosecution while in office, the protection does not extend to allegations of rebellion or treason.

The agency said its outnumbered investigators had several scuffles with presidential security forces that threatened their safety.

After getting around a military unit guarding the residence’s grounds, the agency’s investigators and police were able to approach within 200 meters (about 218 yards) of Yoon’s residential building but were stopped by a barricade formed with 10 vehicles and about 200 members of the presidential security forces and troops.

Kim Seon-ho, the acting defense minister, conveyed his concern to the presidential security service, saying that using military personnel to block the execution of the detention warrant would be “inappropriate” and that the troops shouldn’t be placed in a position where they might confront police.

Yoon’s defense minister, police chief and several top military commanders have already been arrested over their roles in the enforcement of martial law.

Yoon’s legal team said it will file complaints against the anti-corruption agency’s chief prosecutor, Oh Dong-woon, and approximately 150 investigators and police officers involved in Friday’s detention attempt, which they claim was unlawful. The team said it will also file complaints with public prosecutors against the country’s acting defense minister and police chief for ignoring the presidential security service’s request to provide additional forces to block the detention attempt.

Yoon’s lawyers have claimed that the detention and search warrants against Yoon cannot be enforced at his residence, citing a law that protects locations potentially linked to military secrets from search without the consent of the person in charge. They also argue the anti-corruption office lacks the legal authority to investigate rebellion charges and that police officers don’t have the legal authority to assist in detaining Yoon.

Yoon’s fate now lies with the Constitutional Court, which has begun deliberations on whether to formally remove Yoon from office or reinstate him.

Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attend a Sunday service as they gather to oppose his impeachment near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Protesters attend a rally demanding the arrest of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. Banners read "Disband the ruling People Power Party," second left, and "Arrest Yoon Suk Yeol." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Protesters attend a rally demanding the arrest of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attend a Sunday service as they gather to oppose his impeachment near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attend a Sunday service as they gather to oppose his impeachment near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attend a Sunday service as they gather to oppose his impeachment near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Protesters attend a rally demanding the arrest of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Protesters stage a rally demanding the arrest of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. The letters read "Arrest Yoon Suk Yeol." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attend a Sunday service as they gather to oppose his impeachment near the presidential residence in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

GENEVA (AP) — Belgian soccer federation president Pascale van Damme is set join FIFA's ruling council after being the only candidate to run for a seat reserved for a female official from Europe.

Van Damme will run unopposed and is set to be elected at a UEFA meeting on April 3 in Belgrade, Serbia, UEFA said Monday.

Van Damme, a former technology industry executive, was elected to lead Belgian soccer less than two years ago. She is in line to get a four-year term in the FIFA post that pays $250,000 annually.

She will replace Evelina Christillin, a former 2006 Turin Olympics official with close ties to the Juventus-owning Agnelli family, who leaves after more than eight years in the role.

In 2016, Christillin was the first woman elected by UEFA to join the 37-member FIFA council.

Each of soccer’s six continental confederations has a place reserved for a woman on the FIFA decision-making body, and none has ever elected a woman in a contested vote against men.

UEFA also is set to re-elect four men to the FIFA council on April 3 without any rival candidates: Răzvan Burleanu of Romania, Georgios Koumas of Cyprus, Bernd Neuendorf of Germany and Dejan Savićević of Montenegro, the former AC Milan star.

All of the European candidates for FIFA positions, each one the president of their national soccer body, met a Jan. 3 deadline to enter the elections and must pass an eligibility check managed by the world soccer body.

UEFA has set a Feb. 3 deadline — two months before the congress in Belgrade — for candidates to enter elections for 10 vacant seats on its own executive committee, including that of David Gill, its treasurer and the former CEO at Manchester United. Gill has reached the 12-year term limit for UEFA elected positions.

One of the 10 vacancies is for a second seat protected for women, joining current UEFA vice president Laura McAllister of Wales who was elected two years ago. Candidates for the second quota place likely will include Norwegian federation president Lise Klaveness.

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FILE - President of Belgian Football Association Pascale van Damme, center, attends the FIFA Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, May 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)