Saturday, January 4

South Korean authorities were caught up in a standoff at impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol's house yesterday, preventing them from arresting him as they were ordered to.

South Korea was initially plunged into political chaos when Yoon declared martial law, stunning the entire country. He claimed that his opposition was plotting against him with North Korea, forcing him to put the country under temporary military rule until the situation was handled.

However, this decision was taken harshly by his opposition and their supporters. The order for martial law was quickly rescinded, and Yoon was impeached around 10 days later. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo then took office as interim president, but he was also impeached two weeks later. Choi Sang-mok, South Korea's Minister of Economy and Finance, is now the acting president and prime minister, and he has only been in office for about a week.

Earlier this week, police were successfully able to get a warrant for Yoon's arrest after he refused to attend any of his hearings, and he is being investigated for abusing his power as the president. They ran into some issues, though.

Police arrived at Yoon's house with a group of around 20 officers, but they happened to find hundreds of Yoon's supporters who had camped out in front of his house. Despite the freezing temperatures of as low as 17 degrees Fahrenheit (-8 degrees Celsius), his supporters have been staying outside, vowing to prevent the government from arresting him. Protestors have been doing the same, though, and the same area is full of anti-Yoon citizens carrying signs and chanting slogans.

As police backup arrived at the scene, more people poured into the area as the word spread. Soon, there were thousands of protestors on one side calling for his arrest and thousands of others on the other side preventing it. Police officers were also part of the anti-Yoon side, while a large number of officers from the presidential security service (PSS) were on Yoon's side.

The tense standoff between the two forces lasted for over six hours until police gave up, displaying the strong support on both sides. Unfortunately, a standoff like this could appear again in the near future, and fears that it could turn violent are growing.

In addition, while Yoon still requires security as president, albeit one stripped of his powers, the PSS should not have been protecting him from officers with an arrest warrant, as they still need to follow the orders of acting President Choi Sang-mok. However, Yoon was the one who selected the PSS chief, so there is a significant possibility that they could be acting out of loyalty to him.

The next step is for acting President Choi Sang-mok to explicitly instruct the PSS to stand down, allowing police officers to arrest Yoon. If Choi denies, then he could be impeached, and the PSS denies, then they could be arrested as well. Also, they will need to act fast, as the police's arrest warrant expires on January 6.

It is still unknown whether the government will attempt to arrest Yoon again or if they will choose a different route-- South Korean politics are extremely murky right now, and it is tough to predict what will come next.

Fact of the Day: While snails' heads are just the size of the head of a pin, they (along with slugs) have thousands of microscopic teeth on a flexible band inside their mouths, which is known as a radula.

Quote of the Day: By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. (Confucius)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Addlepated (adj, AD-ul-pay-tud) - Someone described as addlepated is mixed-up or confused. Addlepated can also be used as synonym of eccentric.

In a Sentence: Some addlepated clerk confused our hotel reservation with that of another, similarly named, party.