Il Nuovo Postiglione - Arrest deadline for impeached South Korean president enters final day

The former star prosecutor has defiantly refused questioning three times before a failed arrest attempt saw hundreds of his protective guards block investigators trying to detain him over a bungled martial law decree last month.

The tense, hours-long standoff left it unclear if investigators would try to make their move again before the warrant expires at the end of Monday (1500 GMT), but the Yonhap news agency said they were considering another attempt.

Yoon faces prison or, at worst, the death penalty if arrested after briefly suspending civilian rule and plunging South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades, but both he and his supporters have remained defiant.

"The Presidential Security Service will protect the President, and we will protect the Presidential Security Service till midnight," said Kim Soo-yong, 62, one of the protest organisers.

"If they get another warrant, we will come again."

Under the fog of dawn, dozens of Yoon's lawmakers from the People Power Party turned up in front of his presidential residence.

Police moved to block roads in anticipation of another day of protests, as dozens for and against Yoon from the previous day braved sub-zero conditions after camping out overnight.

"I've been here longer than the CIO (Corruption Investigation Office) now. It doesn't make sense why they can't do it. They need to arrest him immediately," anti-Yoon protest organiser Kim Ah-young, in her 30s, said.

If the seven-day warrant expires, investigators would have to apply for another one, which would likely be granted by a court of their choosing on the same grounds the initial warrant was issued -- that Yoon has refused to emerge for questioning over his martial law decree.

Yoon's lawyers have repeatedly said that the warrant is "unlawful" and "illegal", pledging to take further legal action against it.

The head of Yoon's presidential security service also said Sunday he would not allow investigators to arrest the suspended president.

But the vibrant East Asian democracy will find itself in uncharted territory either way -- its sitting president will have been arrested, or he would have evaded court-ordered detention.

- Blinken in town -

As time ticked on the arrest warrant, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Seoul early Monday for talks with several government officials in Seoul including acting president Choi Sang-mok, also finance minister.

Washington's top diplomat is not scheduled to meet Yoon but will hold a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, who is not under threat of impeachment.

South Korea's Constitutional Court has slated January 14 for the start of Yoon's impeachment trial, which if he does not attend would continue in his absence.

A prosecutors' report for his former defence minister seen by AFP Sunday showed Yoon ignored the objections of key cabinet ministers before his failed martial law bid, evidence the court may take into account.

It said the country's then-prime minister, foreign minister and finance minister all expressed reservations about the potential economic and diplomatic fallout in a cabinet meeting on the night of the decision.

The country's opposition Democratic Party has also called for the dissolution of the security service protecting Yoon.

But Yoon's lawyers have pledged to wage their own legal fight.

His lawyer said Sunday they would file another complaint against the head of the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) that tried to arrest Yoon.

The president's legal team "intend to hold those who committed illegal acts strictly accountable under the law," lawyer Yoon Kab-keun said in a statement.

South Korea's Constitutional Court has up to 180 days to determine whether to dismiss Yoon as president or restore his powers.

Former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye never appeared for their impeachment trials.

R.Agosti--INP