Charging a sitting president with wrongdoing is no simple task, but in South Korea, it may be still more difficult because of the sheer number of law-enforcement agencies involved.
President Yoon Sul Yeol has already joined the ranks of South Korean presidents impeached by Parliament, a consequence of his ill-fated decision to declare martial law in early December. But as a court considers whether to uphold that impeachment and remove him permanently from power, he is also facing criminal investigations of insurrection from multiple fronts.
It is the first time that South Korean officials have tried to arrest a sitting president. (Mr. Yoon has been suspended and is holed up at his residence, but he is still technically in office.) Investigators are negotiating untrodden ground, and the agencies that are investigating risk prolonging the country’s political turmoil if they do not find a way to cooperate.
And then there is the agency that is obligated to protect him.
Here’s a guide to the playing field.
Experts say the Constitutional Court’s decision may come as soon as February. The court faces tremendous public pressure to decide quickly to help resolve the country’s current political limbo.
Neither outcome from the court will affect Mr. Yoon’s standing in criminal proceedings, and the court can proceed with or without his presence. But some speculate that Mr. Yoon’s lawyers may be hoping that if the court reinstates him, it will be harder for investigators to charge him.
The Corruption Investigation Office began a second, much-anticipated operation early Wednesday to detain Mr. Yoon, two days after asking members of the security service not to interfere. In making that request, the office at turns threatened their government pensions and promised that they would not face consequences if they defied “illegal orders” from their superiors — including the president of South Korea.
Photo by Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
