Martial law saga: South Korea police attempt to search president’s office botched

An attempted raid of President Yoon Suk Yeol‘s office by police was botched on Wednesday, amid an investigation into the declaration of martial law.

Hours before the attempted raid, the police arrested Cho Ji-ho, Korea National Police Agency commissioner; and Kim Bong-sik, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency head.

Both officials were handed travel bans on Tuesday.

Ji-ho and Bong-sik face accusations of directing police officials to block lawmakers from accessing the national assembly to repeal the martial law.

Ji-ho is also accused of sending police personnel to the National Election Commission to assist the military in carrying out orders issued under martial law.

The arrests were made without warrants.

Authorities said they plan to decide whether to request arrest warrants for the police chiefs. They will both be released if the warrants are not filed or granted within 48 hours.

Police officials said 18 investigators were dispatched to the presidential office to secure records related to the cabinet meeting held in the hours before martial law was declared.

However, they were blocked by the Secret Service, who refused to let them in.

Restrictions to the president’s office occurred despite the police obtaining a seizure warrant.

Police officials are also required to meet with a relevant presidential office representative to formally execute the warrant. However, they could not.

It is unclear if Yeol, who is already under a travel ban, was inside the office at the time investigators arrived to conduct the raid.

The president faces allegations of insurrection, mutiny, and abuse of power. This is the first time a sitting president in South Korea is being subjected to such high-level investigation.