SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- A vehicle that was believed to be heading to the presidential office for the arrest of South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol arrived at a road in front of the presidential office here early Tuesday morning.

The convoy tasked with arresting and detaining Yoon departed from the headquarters of the Office for Special Affairs of Prosecution, Investigation, and Research (OSPIR) in Goyang, near the capital city of Seoul, early Tuesday morning. The convoy, consisting of 30 OSPIR members and 120 police officers, arrived at the presidential office's entrance, with 70 officers waiting outside the presidential office. Thousands of Yoon's supporters gathered outside the presidential office and shouted slogans to show their support for Yoon, while 2,700 police officers and 150 police vehicles were dispatched to maintain order.

Yoon's legal defense team called the arrest warrant "illegal and invalid" and filed an objection to it at the Seoul Western District Court on Monday afternoon. With the arrest warrant expiring on Jan. 6, it remains to be seen how the standoff will end.

After OSPIR investigators entered through the main gate of the presidential office after 9 a.m. local time on Tuesday to enforce the arrest warrant on Yoon, who has been impeached by the National Assembly, they faced military forces believed to be from the Capital Defense Command and have not yet entered the presidential office building.

After about five and a half hours of confrontation, OSPIR said at 1:30 p.m. local time that it had decided to suspend the arrest warrant on Yoon. OSPIR said it has made the decision that the arrest warrant cannot be enforced as the standoff continued, and expressed deep regret over Yoon's attitude of not responding to the legal process. OSPIR and the police officers who enforced the arrest warrant left the presidential office.

The OSPIR enforcement team, after breaking through the first and second blockades inside the presidential office on Tuesday, faced off with Yoon's security guards at the main gate of the official residence.

Two blockades have been set up around the Seoul's Cheong Wa Dae, or the presidential office, located in Jongno-gu district, in order to block the OSPIR enforcement team. The first blockade is composed of fences, barricades, and checkpoints, which separate the public event area from the presidential office area. The second blockade has sensors and surveillance cameras installed, and manual security checks are carried out at this blockade.

After passing through the first and second blockades, enforcement officers will encounter the agents belonging to the Presidential Security Service, a state agency charged with directly protecting the physical safety of the president. The agency has said it will "handle the arrest warrant appropriately in accordance with the legal process." While the agency had previously blocked an attempt by the police to enter the presidential office in November, it has since refrained from explicitly opposing or supporting the enforcement of the arrest warrant.

When the senior prosecutor Lee Dae-hwan (the head of the OSPIR investigation team) entered the second blockade on Tuesday morning, he was stopped for several hours by unidentified personnel, who refused to let him advance further. Reports also indicated the presence of military personnel inside the presidential office, believed to be South Korean soldiers from the Capital Defense Command. Although the South Korean military is not responsible for defending the presidential office under normal circumstances, there have been cases in the country's history where the Capital Defense Command has deployed troops to the presidential office in times of crisis.

Supporters of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol stage a demonstration in front of the presidential office in Seoul. (Xinhua)

Yoon's supporters have been massing in front of the presidential office since late Monday. The supporters, wearing face masks, waved South Korean flags and shouted pro-Yoon slogans, including, "We will protect President Yoon to the end," and, "Yoon is our hero," in subzero temperatures.

Hundreds of Yoon's opponents also gathered in the area and shouted slogans in support of opposition leader Lee Jae-myung. They were separated by a long line of riot police. Some Yoon supporters attempted to charge through and clash with the opposition supporters by pushing past the riot police, and the police dispersed the Yoon supporters.

On Tuesday, despite the bitter cold, thousands of Yoon's supporters continued to hold a demonstration near the presidential office, with some protesters chanting, "Stop the arrest warrant," and, "We will protect President Yoon Suk-yeol." Riot police surrounded the area, and the main road passing through the Han-nam dong neighborhood of Seoul, where the presidential office is located, was closed.