South Korea's impeached President Hyun Sook Yol has been hunkered
down behind barbed wire, defying efforts to place him
under arrest. But he now faces a new effort
to take him into custody as a top investigator vowed
to do whatever it takes to break the security blockade
. Since parliament voted to impeach and suspend Yoon last
month over his short-lived martial law decree, he has
been laying low at his official residence in Hannamdog,
an upscale district popular with business tycoons and celebrities known
as Korea's Beverly Hills. Meanwhile, protesters supporting and
opposing him braved freezing temperatures to stage rallies in streets
. official residence has been fortified with rows of barbed
wire and a small army of personal security. Experts
say massive security is needed to ensure a smooth arrest
. Ryu Samung is a member of the opposition Democratic
Party and a former senior police officer. Since the
doors are blocked and the barricades along with the barbed
wire have been set up, it is now necessary
to mobilize special forces of the police and people with
special skills to breach the obstacles in order to safely
control any situation that can happen if there are around
300 to 400. People inside, we would need
about 10 times that number of personnel and various equipment
to remove the barricades, and the most important thing
is to be prepared for safety issues. Emergency vehicles
along with people who can give first aid should be
in place. Leung Yo is a police science professor
at Conkuk University specializing in law enforcement. He said
police have a clear advantage in terms of resources such
as helicopters to drop in tactical units. However,
he added force should not be the only option considered
. On Tuesday, the head of the corruption investigation
office apologized for failing to arrest the president last week
. The presidential security service and military guards blocked the
investigators from arresting Yo in a 6-hour standoff. The
investigator told a parliament committee that the second warrant execution
would be the last. One of Yon's lawyers said
the suspended president could not accept the execution of the
arrest warrant. They argued that it was issued by
a court in the wrong jurisdiction. And that the
team of investigators formed to probe the incumbent leader had
no mandate to do so.