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When around 100 criminal investigators and police officers entered a hilly compound in central Seoul on Friday morning, they tried to achieve something that has never been done before in South Korea: detain a sitting president.<\/p>\n
First, they made it through two blockades formed by parked vehicles and people. Then, when they came within 650 feet of the building where President Yoon Suk Yeol was believed to be holed up, they came face to face with an even more formidable barrier: 10 buses and cars along with 200 elite soldiers and bodyguards belonging to Mr. Yoon\u2019s Presidential Security Service. Small scuffles erupted as the investigators tried in vain to break through and serve a court-issued warrant to take Mr. Yoon away.<\/p>\n
Three prosecutors were allowed to approach the building. But there, Mr. Yoon\u2019s lawyers told them that they could not serve the warrant because it was \u201cillegally\u201d issued, according to officials who briefed news media about what happened inside the compound.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Outnumbered, the 100 officials retreated after a five-and-a-half-hour standoff.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s deeply regrettable,\u201d the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, the independent government agency that led the raid into the presidential compound on Friday, said in a statement. It accused Mr. Yoon \u2014 who has already been suspended from office after being impeached by Parliament last month \u2014 of refusing to honor a court-issued warrant. \u201cWe will discuss what our next step should be.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The failure to bring in the deeply unpopular president deepened a growing sense of helplessness among South Koreans, exacerbated by the country\u2019s sharply polarized politics. The nation appears rudderless and distracted by infighting at a time when it faces major challenges at home and on the international scene.<\/p>\n
There is already uncertainty around its alliance with the United States as the unpredictable Donald J. Trump prepares to return to the White House. Seoul\u2019s decades-old foe North Korea has sought to score propaganda points from the South\u2019s political quagmire, with its state media reporting that its neighbor was in \u201cparalysis of its state administration and spiraling sociopolitical confusion.\u201d<\/p>\n
And, at home, the crash of a Jeju Air passenger jet<\/a> that killed 179 of the 181 people on board on Sunday has added to as list of challenges that range from widespread labor strikes to rising household debts. On Thursday, the finance ministry sharply downgraded its growth forecast for 2025.<\/p>\n