Lawyers for the impeached president continue to argue that the investigation is illegal. Another hearing is set to take place in Yoon’s impeachment trial tomorrow at the Constitutional Court, but it is unclear whether he will be present. In the meantime, the rift in South Korean society is widening.

Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies) – South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has been placed in a solitary cell after hundreds of protesters stormed the Seoul District Court.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police reported that they sought the arrest of 66 of the 90 people detained in connection with the incident, which broke out after a formal 20-day arrest warrant was issued for Yoon.

Impeached for declaring martial law in early December, Yoon continues to refuse to cooperate with the Corruption Investigation Office for Senior Officials (CIO), which accuses him of insurrection.

According to the president's lawyers and supporters, the CIO, which was established in 2021, does not have the authority to conduct investigations or issue warrants against the head of government; this falls to the Constitutional Court, which will have to decide in the coming weeks whether to remove Yoon.

Again this morning, the right-wing president refused to answer the CIO’s requests to appear. Except for the first interrogation, during which he remained silent, he has refused to cooperate with the CIO four times since he was arrested last Wednesday.

"Given the current situation, the CIO is seriously considering bringing him in [for questioning] by force," a CIO official said.

Police attempted to execute a search warrant to obtain surveillance camera footage from the presidential residence and the president's security services office, but guards also refused to cooperate.

All public attention is now turned to the third hearing of the impeachment trial scheduled for tomorrow at the Constitutional Court. It is not yet clear whether the president will be present at the trial, an official said today.

Yoon's legal team had previously stated that the president would attend, but this is increasingly uncertain.

Meanwhile, support for Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) is constantly growing. According to a Realmeter poll, the approval rate for the PPP reached 46.5 per cent, ahead of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) for the first time in six months, which dropped to 39 per cent.

In addition, 48.6 per cent of respondents would prefer a PPP candidate as the next president, compared to 46.2 per cent who support opposition parties.

Just three weeks ago, the DPK led with more than 60 per cent, but many voters now perceive the actions against Yoon as too aggressive.

The poll data reflect a rift in South Korean society. While women are very much part of the protests against Yoon, those who back the disgraced president tend to be young men aged 20 to 30 years old, marking an important demographic change compared to the PPP’s traditional conservative electorate made up of mostly people in their 50s and 60s.

“South Korean men in their 20s and 30s often perceive themselves to be disadvantaged compared to women of the same age, mostly due to mandatory military service pushing them back their university studies,” said Prof Koo Jeong-woo from Sungkyunkwan University’s Department of Sociology, speaking to the Korea Herald.

According to local media, far-right YouTubers close to Yoon also played a significant role in yesterday's incident.

DPK MP Chung Il-young noted that since 3 December, the day martial law was declared, these YouTubers’ earnings doubled thanks to rising donations from supporters.

"Far-right YouTubers are making enormous profits by spreading false information and inciting indiscriminate hatred," the lawmaker said.

Seoul police have confirmed that three YouTube content creators are among those arrested for the attack at the court.

In fact, several far-right platforms are sowing divisions. This morning, for example, the US Armed Forces in Korea (USFK) had to deny a report that 99 Chinese spies manipulated the last parliamentary elections won by the DPK.

“We urge responsible reporting and fact-checking to prevent the spread of misinformation that could harm public trust," the USFK said in a statement.

For his part, Yoon claimed that the last parliamentary election was tainted with “electoral fraud" and justified martial law as a response to the action of “anti-state” and “pro-North Korean” forces.

• south korea
• martial law
• yoon suk-yeol
• impeachment
• constitutional court
• corruption investigation office
• conspiracy theories
• right-wing youtubers