South Korea troops confront investigators trying to arrest Yoon Suk-yeol

South Korean investigators seeking to arrest impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol have been blocked by a military unit inside the official residence compound, Yonhap reported on Friday.

Officials from the Corruption Intelligence Office (CIO), which is probing Yoon over his declaration of martial law, entered the compound but were “blocked by a military unit inside”, Yonhap said.

The suspended president issued the bungled declaration on December 3 that led to his impeachment and has left him facing arrest, imprisonment or, at worst, the death penalty.

Yoon, who has already been suspended from duty by lawmakers, would become the first sitting president in South Korean history to be arrested.

CIO investigators including senior prosecutor Lee Dae-hwan were let through heavy security barricades to enter the residence to attempt to execute their warrant to detain Yoon.

Dozens of police buses and hundreds of uniformed police lined the street outside the compound in central Seoul.