South Korea: Police say tracking Yoon’s location amid flight rumours

Seoul: South Korea’s police said on Wednesday that they are tracking President Yoon Suk Yeol’s location amid rumours he may have fled from his residence while facing the threat of arrest over his short-lived imposition of martial law.

“We cannot specifically disclose President Yoon’s location,” a police official told Yonhap News Agency. “We continue to track his location.”

Yoon is believed to have been largely holed up at his official residence in central Seoul since the National Assembly impeached him on December 14 over his failed martial law bid earlier that month.

Police confirmed he was home last Friday when investigators tried to execute a warrant to detain him before withdrawing five hours later amid a standoff with Presidential security staff, according to sources. He was home at least until early this week, they said.

Rumours that he may have fled were sparked Tuesday by Oh Dong-woon, chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, who told lawmakers during a Parliamentary session that he had heard nothing specific about whether Yoon remained home.

When asked if Yoon could have fled, he answered, “We’re thinking about various possibilities.”

In an interview with KBS radio Wednesday, Rep. Ahn Gyu-back of the main opposition Democratic Party claimed he had information Yoon had already left the residence and was hiding in a “third location.”

“I received a tip-off,” Ahn said. “I heard yesterday the police have also made a similar location assessment.”

However, the Presidential office denied speculations that President Yoon Suk Yeol might have fled his residence amid investigators’ attempt to detain him for a probe into his short-lived imposition of martial law.

“(I) have heard the President is currently staying at the official residence,” a presidential official with knowledge of the matter told Yonhap News Agency by phone, without providing further details.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of people in support of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and those calling for his immediate arrest rallied near the Presidential residence, a day after a court extended a warrant to detain him over his botched martial law declaration.

Some 600 supporters gathered at a road near Hangangjin Station, mostly from a conservative civic group led by pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon and Freedom Union, another conservative organisation.

IANS