The top aide to South Korea’s president, who has been impeached, is asking investigators to end his detention

SEOUL, South Korea. On Tuesday, impeached top presidential aide Yoon Suk-yeol pleaded with law enforcement to end efforts to detain him over the imposition of martial law last month as authorities prepared for a second attempt to take him into custody.

In a statement, presidential chief of staff Jeong Jin-suk said Yoon could be questioned at a “third location” or his residence, and claimed the anti-corruption agency and police were trying to draw him out as if he were a member of a “South American drug cartel.”

However, Yoon Kab Keun, one of the president’s lawyers, said Chun released the message without consulting them, and that the legal team had no immediate plans to produce the president for questioning by investigators.

Yoon Suk Yeol did not leave his official residence in Seoul for weeks, and presidential security service prevented dozens of investigators from detaining Yun after a nearly six-hour standoff on January 3.

The Office of High-Level Corruption Investigation and the police have vowed to take stronger measures to detain Yun while they jointly investigate whether Yun’s background declaration of martial law On December 3, he attempted an uprising. The National Police Agency has convened multiple field commanders’ meetings in Seoul and neighboring Gyeonggi province in recent days to plan the arrests, and the size of the force has fueled speculation that more than a thousand officers could be involved in a possible multi-day operation. The agency and the police have openly warned that presidential guards who obstruct the execution of the warrant could be arrested on the spot.

The anti-corruption agency and police have not confirmed when they will return to the presidential residence, which has been fortified with barbed wire and lines of vehicles blocking roads. But Cheung said he understood “D-day” to be Wednesday, without elaborating on the information he had.

Anti-corruption agency and police officials met with members of the presidential security service on Tuesday morning for unspecified discussions about efforts to execute Yun’s arrest warrant, the agency said. It was not immediately clear whether any compromise had been reached.

The country’s acting leader, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, on Monday expressed concern about possible clashes between the authorities and the presidential security service, which, despite a court warrant for Yun’s arrest, insisted that it would must protect the president.

The anti-corruption agency and police have “completed preparations for the siege,” Chung said. “They are ready to tear down the walls at any moment and handcuff President Yoon Suk-yeol, who remains isolated in his residence in Hannam-dong, and take him out by force,” he added, accusing investigators of trying to humiliate the president.

“Thousands of citizens stayed awake in front of the president’s residence, swearing to protect the president. If there was a conflict between the police and citizens, an incredible tragedy could happen.”

For the past two weeks, thousands of supporters of Yun and his supporters have gathered daily in rival rallies outside Yun’s office in Seoul, anticipating yet another arrest attempt. Yoon’s lawyers argued that images of him being led away in handcuffs could cause a huge backlash from his supporters and provoke “civil war” in a country deeply divided along ideological and generational lines.

Yun briefly declared martial law and deployed troops to surround the National Assembly on December 3, which lasted only hours before lawmakers managed to break through the blockade and voted to cancel this measure.

His presidency was suspended when the opposition-dominated Assembly voted to impeach him on December 14, accusing him of rebellion. His fate now rests with the Constitutional Court, which has begun debating whether to formally remove Yun from office or dismiss the charges and reinstate him.