On the evening of the 3rd, when the execution of the arrest warrant for President Yoon Suk-yeol was aborted, emergency supplies such as ramen and water were seen being brought into the presidential residence.
On the evening of the 3rd, when President Yoon's arrest was called off, cup noodles, bottled water, and other items were brought into the official residence. Photo by News1
Between the evening of the 3rd and the early morning of the 4th, individuals presumed to be security office staff carried bottled water and boxes of cup ramen into the presidential residence in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Some items were even wrapped in boxes from a moving company to conceal them.
That morning, the security office clashed with investigative personnel attempting to arrest President Yoon for 5 hours and 30 minutes. The High-ranking Officials’ Crime Investigation Division (Gongsoocheo), which attempted to execute the arrest warrant against President Yoon, who is accused of being the ringleader of a rebellion, retreated after a standoff with the Presidential Security Service and others, and is now regrouping and considering the next steps. The deadline for executing the arrest warrant is midnight on the 6th.
The side of President Yoon, who refused to comply with the execution of the arrest warrant, is intensifying its offensive against Gongsoocheo. Lawyer Seok Dong-hyun, who has represented President Yoon’s position from the outside since the December 3 martial law incident, posted on his Facebook account that day, "Gongsoocheo has a short history, few staff, and very limited cases or experience in investigations," and criticized, "They are like Red Guards, calling the sitting president out on a holiday morning and threatening to arrest him because he doesn’t come." He added, "When you don’t know much, you recklessly rush into big matters because you don’t know better," and claimed, "The saying ‘ignorance makes one brave’ would be an apt description."
On the morning of the 3rd, as officials from the Corruption Investigation Office entered the presidential residence in Hannam-dong, Seoul, to execute an arrest warrant for President Yoon Seok-yeol, supporters of President Yoon gathered on the road near the residence in Hannam-dong to hold an anti-impeachment rally. Photo by Heo Young-han
President Yoon is also reported to have shown a strong reaction to Gongsoocheo’s actions. On that day, People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun told reporters at the National Assembly, "The president is paying attention to the fact that the judicial system of the Republic of Korea is collapsing due to the series of processes including Gongsoocheo’s request for the arrest warrant," and "He is taking it as a very serious crisis."
Lawmaker Yoon was with President Yoon at the presidential residence in Hannam-dong the previous day when Gongsoocheo attempted to execute the arrest warrant. Lawmaker Yoon said, "President Yoon, his lawyers, and I believe that Gongsoocheo’s request for an arrest warrant, despite having no authority to investigate treason, is clearly illegal and null from the outset," and "We hold the position that refusing the warrant is protecting the Constitution and the rule of law of the Republic of Korea."
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