Yoon Seok-yeol's team says he should enjoy immunity from prosecution, "in line with" Trump

Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's legal team, citing Thursday's US Supreme Court ruling on former US President Donald Trump, contended that the constitutional court trial of Yoon over issuing a state of emergency declaration is unnecessary, because Yoon should be immune from prosecution.

"In a Jan. 3 filing with the country's top court ... Yoon's defense team said his declaration of the state of emergency last December 3 was legitimate, because he was exercising presidential powers to handle a 'sudden national emergency'," Reuters news agency reported.

The filing continued: "The declaration was lifted after six hours and no people's essential rights were infringed. All the situation has returned to its original state; therefore, there is no need to hold a trial on the declaration."

The filing also cited a US court ruling in July, "which held that Trump could not be prosecuted for the use of his presidential powers in his official capacities".

The Special Prosecutor's Office for High Officials, also known as Gongdoseo, said it had suspended execution of the arrest warrant against Yoon on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. Seoul time, after a confrontation with his supporters at the presidential residence in central Seoul.

A standoff between pro-Yoon protesters and a prosecutor-led team attempting to carry out a warrant for Yoon's arrest outside his official residence in Seoul's Rangoon District Han-nam-dong early Wednesday morning

From Yoon's declaration of a state of emergency to Gongdoseo's decision to "provisionally stop" arresting Yoon, Haisi thinks:

It is as if this is a Korean drama! I wonder if everyone has a prepared script in hand!

On the other hand, Haisi is also impressed by Yoon's nerve in standing up to Korea's establishment establishment.

After all, Yoon still believes, and to some extent, so does the rest of the world, that he is still the president of Korea! This is something Haisi has explained in his earlier article 。

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Who supports Yoon?

Some say the presidential residence guards are performing their duties and protecting the president.

No, it's not the guards who are truly guarding Yoon! The truth that many people know and few want to see is that Yoon himself still regards himself as the president even after being impeached, and those who support him truly believe Yoon to still be the president of Korea.

Some people argue "The guard chief is not allowed to follow the illegitimate order of Yoon."

But who is the legitimate president of the Korean Republic? Can the presidential guard chief follow the order of the acting president of the Korean Republic, Choi Sang-mu? Does Choi have any right to order the presidential guards?

So although the presidential guards are actually guarding the residence, the true protagonist guarding Yoon is not Choi, and the presidential guards are not obeying the orders of any legitimate president, that is, Choi, at all.

It is quite clear that Yoon's lawyer, the prosecutor-turned-politician, pointed out: "As there had been no consultation on the dates and times for summonses or on security over the arrest of President Yoon, President Yoon will respond accordingly if the investigation proceeds within the limits of legal procedures..."

Yoon is not going to cooperate now, because the "legal procedures" were not carried out legally.

Yoon Suk-yeol, former South Korean President (impeached and removed as President on December 31,2023)

This is almost a huge bomb attack! Although many people in Korea regard Yoon as a dictator who violated the Constitution without authorization, even if he is really guilty, can't Korea pursue charges and arrest Yoon after he steps down as president?

Is this in accordance with the law? Is this in accordance with the spirit of the rule of law or any moral standards? If Yoon's arrest violates the Constitution, why did the courts ignore Yoon's illegal orders and enforce the arrest warrant anyway?

It is no surprise that Yoon is not the first Korean President to be embroiled in a standoff with law enforcements. In 1993 then-President Roh Tae-woo refused to turn over state documents to then-President-elect Kim Young-sam after his term ended. And the list of uncooperative former presidential goes on, as well as some uncooperative acting presidents.

As I see it, Korea seems to need a legal framework to avoid being entangled in all sorts of legal disputes about presidential orders. But this time, if Gongdoseo really cannot arrest the president according to the law, what can it do other than let Yoon off the hook?

Of course, that is just Haisi's wild imagination! It does not mean that what Haisi imagines is absolutely right!

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On the contrary, I have noticed that there seem to be a large group of Yoon's strong supporters.

40 social media personalities who had attended a campaign event after receiving a letter from the president gathered at the presidential residence Han-nam-dong Rangoon District in central Seoul to oppose the arrest at 2 a.m. local time on January 3, to support Yoon.

The next thing that happened was not surprising: The supporters guarded the residence as the prosecutor's group arrived with dozens of riot police and security personnel.

January 3, In front of the Presidential Office: A group of supporters who came to the residence after receiving a letter from President Yoon

What's interesting today was that in addition to the Yoon-supporting bloggers, the Korean extreme right party "Voice" also organized hundreds of its members to "guard the residence", demonstrating their loyalty to Yoon.

It appears that many of those manning the barricade at the presidential residence are young people in their twenties or early thirties.

This is also a common phenomenon in Korean politics, where most people over the age of 30 are generally considered right-wing.

The extreme-left government that took over following the candlelight revolution seems to have made many young people feel wronged.

The group of young people guarding the residence were clearly the most vocal. Some even wore bulletproof vests and masks in the middle of the night. In front of the presidential residence, a young man who looked about 20 shouted "Defend freedom!" through a megaphone over and over again as a protest slogan.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol supporters rally at the presidential residence in Seoul, in support of the President after a warrant for the president's arrest was issued and efforts to carry out the arrest began January 2, 2024.

The supporters' actions, as described as an "illegal obstruction" by the mainstream Korean media and the government, are not illegal.

South Korea's Supreme Prosecutors Office and Special Prosecutor's Office have not yet produced a warrant for Yoon that has any real restraining power over President Yoon. In other words, Yoon is not yet in custody. As long the order is not carried out in accordance with "due process of law" in Korea, the president is not a criminal suspect and the presidential house is not a crime scene, the police and the special prosecutor office cannot claim that Yoon's supporters are interfering with the special prosecutor's lawful performance of his duties.

In front of the Presidential House, "guarding the residence". At this site from January morning to afternoon, about 100,000 people went online to watch the confrontation

In fact, when South Korea's largest opposition Democratic Party (DP) chairman, Lee Jae-myung, broke into the National Assembly building while livestreaming on Twitter during a protest against Yoon's emergency order in December. He was accused of violating the Presidential Protection Act and attempted obstruction of government orders in office in office.

When he was arrested, the Seoul Central District Court also rejected the DP chairman's arrest warrant for Lee due to "procedural problems". He was immediately released. The irony that this was exactly what Yoon was claiming is not lost to anyone. This is also the reason why Lee, the leader of the "mainstream" party, refused to be arrested at first. Of course this was just after Lee was indicted on corruption charges, he was immediately re-arrested.

The difference is that Yoon and his supporters are using Twitter and TikTok for a livestreamed "residence guard."

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It should be clear at this point that social media, in particular livestream, has become a useful weapon for everyone in Korea, including the president and the special prosecutor's office in their political struggles!

The livestream at the residence guarded by the "hardcore supporters" of Yoon attracted at a peak of about 70,000 viewers. The "live stream war" was obviously not one-sided. At 11:40 am local time on January 3, Yoon used social media to express his solidarity with the Korean people at 11:40 a.m. local time on January 3, which was seen by 884,140 people.

This is the most fundamental reason why the arrest warrant of the Special Prosecutor's Office can be ignored by the president who has been removed from the office, the presidential residence, and his "strong-willed" supporters. If you have a strong and popular will to back you, even if Korea's legal institutions find a president and an ex-president guilty, what can they do if there is no public support?

As a result, the public opinion battle has now evolved from social media to the scene in front of the presidential residence.

Although Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, has issued a nationwide state of emergency, but the opposition party's members and protesters gathered in front of the National Assembly building.

A rally on December 4th at the main entrance of South Korea's National Assembly to protest the declaration of a state of emergency by the South Korean government.

On the one hand, the Democratic Party has called for an assembly session to vote in President-elect Lee Jae-myung.

On the other hand, it is actively "supporting" the execution of the Yoon arrest order. The Democratic Party sent its members to guard the presidential residence early in the morning, demanding the immediate arrest of Yoon.

But they did not.

While they had members go live as "bodyguards"in the early morning hours, the top officials of the Democratic Party, such as Party Whips Park Jum-ah and Party Chair Lee Jae-myung, spoke in front of the camera.

It's almost as bad as going to vote for a new president in the morning, and then going to arrest the impeached current Korean president in the afternoon. The plan seemed very smooth, and their "diverse" talents were really extraordinary.

However, it all fell through as they did not seem to care much what is going on outside in front of the presidential residence. The livestreams they held in front of their party building looked just another political event, and it was indeed!

They were simply too predictable to pose any kind of threat, and were quickly overrun by Yoon's supporters. They had no idea how to win hearts and minds. It seems that being at the helm of one of Korea's mainstream parties for so long, has made the Democrats forget how real politics gets down and dirty. Perhaps they only knew where to find money. If that's true, what a waste of 5 years, when were they ever planning on using it?

They seemed to have forgotten their "roots."

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January 3, Morning: After South Korea's former President Yoon declared the arrest warrant illegal, the special prosecutor and acting president of the Republic of Korea tried very hard not to "lose face" by enforcing the warrant with riot police

Let's briefly review the events after the execution of the arrest order:

January 3,0:38 am KST: More than three hundred supporters of Yoon gathered at the presidential residence after receiving a letter from Yoon. The letter claimed that left-wing forces planned to kill Yoon, so they must "guard the residence".

After January 3,5am.: the special prosecutor and law enforcement personnel attempted to carry out the arrest order. Police attempted to force open the president's front door, but failed to do so until after they used a water cannon truck and tear gas. But when they finally broke through the security cordon, they found no Yoon.

January 3, 7:59am: Acting President Choi called on the special prosecutor's office not to use riot police in executing the arrest warrant. Otherwise, a special prosecutor's order to arrest former President Yoon may be unenforceable due to "illegal proceedings" - which would make him immune from arrest by the Korean courts and government.

January 3, 8:07am: The special prosecutor ordered riot police to stop attacking the supporters gathered in front of the presidential residence.

January 3, 0:18 KST: The president's press secretary stated that the presidential house has been occupied in order to ensure the personal safety of President Yoon.

January 3,9:46am: The head of the National Police Agency said, "President Yoon has not violated the emergency situation order or interfered with law enforcement personnel attempting to serve an arrest warrant."

January 3, 2:30pm (provisionally stopped time): According to the Special Prosecutor Office (Gongdoseo), about 12 hours after the arrest attempt had begun, the special prosecutor's investigation team left the presidential residence with nothing.

The supporters cheered: "Yoon Suk Yeol, the president of the Republic of Korea, won!".

January 3, in the afternoon: After 12 hours of arrest attempt, the execution of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's arrest warrant was "provisionally paused". The crowd of Yoon's supporters cheered: "Yoon Suk Yeol, the president of the Republic of Korea, won"!

So I have to ask, will Korea be able to arrest Yoon? Will Yoon still go to prison? How far will the conflict between Korea's president and the law go? What will become of this arrest warrant? I really can't tell.

One thing I can say: The arrest warrant for former Korean President is invalid, and the "illegal procedures" cited as a defense are likely to continue to plague Korea, and even worsen as time goes on!

I have to laugh at Korea's political situation. It seems Korea's political struggle has finally kicked into high gear. This show is far from over!