Prolonged uncertainty continues over the fate of deposed South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. Yoon, who was suspended from office on December 3 after a brief imposition of martial law and is under criminal investigation for a possible uprising, has been guarded for weeks by a small army of personal security personnel at his hilltop residence in Seoul, where he survived the first attempt to arrest him.
In a National Barometer Poll released on Thursday, 59% of respondents wanted Yoon to be arrested, while about 37% said his arrest would be excessive. A similar percentage also expressed support for the Constitutional Court, which is currently considering lawmakers’ decision to remove Yoon from office.
Analysts say that Yoon’s return to office is uncertain, but the break has emboldened his supporters gathered near the presidential residence. In the weeks since Yoon’s dismissal, support for the ruling People Power Party (PPP) has also seen a slight rebound, which some analysts say indicates that conservatives are uniting to fight a possible presidential election later this year.
According to a Realmeter poll released on Monday, the PPP’s approval rating rose for the third week in a row to 34.4%. The main opposition Democratic Party, which holds a parliamentary majority and has put Yoon’s impeachment to a vote, had a 45.2% approval rating.
Facing a new attempt to arrest him, Yoon’s lawyers continue to challenge the anti-corruption officials who sought his arrest, claiming that they do not have the authority to investigate him for the offense of sedition, even though an arrest warrant has been issued by the court.
Yoon will accept the Constitutional Court’s ruling
However, lawyers told reporters on Thursday that the Constitutional Court’s ruling on Yoon’s political future would be accepted. Decisions of the court, one of the country’s two highest courts along with the Supreme Court, cannot be appealed.
“The president is still standing strong,” Yoon’s lawyer Seok Dong-hyeon told supporters outside his residence on Wednesday, saying he did not want people and public officials to be harmed by this but could not accept illegal investigations.
