The former star prosecutor has defiantly refused questioning three times before a failed arrest attempt saw hundreds of protective guards block investigators trying to detain him over a bungled martial law decree last month.
Investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) said Monday they will ask for an extension to a warrant due to expire at the end of Monday (1500 GMT).
“The validity of the warrant expires today. We plan to request an extension from the court today,” said Lee Jae-seung, deputy director of the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO), in a briefing to reporters.
He added they had asked for the police’s help to detain Yoon because of the difficulties investigators had faced, and would consult them on the timing of the warrant extension. Police have yet to accept the request.
Last week, a tense, hours-long standoff with hundreds of security forces forced investigators into a U-turn over security fears.
Yoon faces prison or, at worst, the death penalty if arrested after briefly suspending civilian rule and plunging South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades, but both he and his supporters have remained defiant.
“The Presidential Security Service will protect the President, and we will protect the Presidential Security Service till midnight,” said Kim Soo-yong, 62, one of the protest organisers.
“If they get another warrant, we will come again.”
Under the fog of dawn, dozens of Yoon’s lawmakers from the People Power Party turned up in front of his presidential residence.
Police moved to block roads in anticipation of another day of protests, as dozens for and against Yoon from the previous day braved sub-zero conditions after camping out overnight.
“I’ve been here longer than the CIO now. It doesn’t make sense why they can’t do it. They need to arrest him immediately,” anti-Yoon protest organiser Kim Ah-young, in her 30s, said.
