Ruling party lawmaker shows up at Yoon residence to block president’s arrest

A ruling People Power Party lawmaker went to the residence of President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday morning in an apparent bid to stop law enforcement attempts to detain the suspended president in a martial law investigation.

Five-time People Power Party Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun was at the presidential residence in Yongsan, central Seoul, as the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials tried to detain the president on Friday morning.

The lawmaker did not discuss his plans for visiting the president with the People Power Party beforehand. “Nobody knew he was going. We are not sure what to make of it,” one lawmaker who is part of the ruling party leadership team told The Korea Herald.

Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Kim Yong-min on the National Assembly judiciary committee said the People Power Party lawmaker’s move could amount to obstruction of justice.

Kim told The Korea Herald that while lawmakers have immunity from arrest warrants, they could still be detained at the scene. “Lawmakers are not immune from arrest if caught in the act of a crime,” he said.

“Rep. Yoon is pandering to the more hard-line, pro-Yoon supporters,” Kim Woong, an attorney and former People Power Party lawmaker, told The Korea Herald.

At a rally outside the presidential residence late Thursday, Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun told the crowd, “Protecting the president is protecting our country.”