Seoul: Police were locked in a five-hour standoff with presidential security officials Wednesday as they attempted to raid the presidential office over an investigation into allegations that former President Yoon Suk Yeol obstructed the execution of a detention warrant early this year.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the police's special investigation team presented a warrant to search the presidential office's secure phone server, and the Presidential Security Service (PSS) office and residence, all in the central Seoul district of Yongsan, at 10:13 a.m. However, police had yet to enter the buildings as of 3 p.m. as the PSS refused to cooperate with the raid.
Acting PSS chief Kim Seong-hoon is accused of obstructing investigators' attempt to detain Yoon at the presidential residence in January. Last month, a Seoul court turned down the prosecution's request for warrants to arrest Kim and Lee Kwang-woo, chief of the PSS' bodyguard division. Police officials said the presidential office's surveillance cameras are also subject to the raid in connection with former Interior Minister Lee Sang-min's insurrection charges.