"The execution of the order for the president's arrest has begun," says the country's acting president Choi Sang-Mok in a statement that continues:
"This is a crucial moment to maintain order and legal security in South Korea".
Nearly 1,000 police officers are on site at the president's residence, but they have not yet made it further than the gates in their new attempt to arrest Yoon Suk-Yeol.
"The investigators were stuck in a deadlock with the president's security guards after showing orders for house search and arrest," reports the South Korean news agency Yonhap.
Blocked entrance
When the documents were not enough to gain entry, "physical clashes" broke out between the police and unidentified individuals at the residence's entrance.
Initially, thousands of supporters of the former president were also present, but according to the news agency AFP, they were dispersed with some violence from the police. About 30 parliamentarians who still support the former president are said to remain and form a human chain to stop the police.
While the main entrance to the residence is completely blocked, the police are trying to enter from the back, via a mountain hiking trail.
Police chief to be arrested
On Tuesday, the country's defense department stated that the military had been ordered not to intervene if the police want to arrest Yoon, but only to act to protect the residence, writes Yonhap.
An attempt to arrest the former president on January 3 was stopped by security guards who physically blocked the police, who therefore warned that they would use more "powerful" methods now.
An arrest warrant has also been issued against the acting head of Yoon's guards following the events of January 3.
South Korea's President Yoon Suk-Yeol, who belongs to the conservative People's Party (PPP), introduced a state of emergency on the evening of December 3 to protect the country from "communist forces". This was done with reference to the opposition having completely paralyzed the government's work.
During the night of December 4, the parliament voted to repeal the war laws, and the state of emergency was declared invalid.
Yoon Suk-Yeol later announced in a televised speech that he would lift the state of emergency, which lasted a total of about six hours.
He was stripped of presidential power on December 14, when the parliament voted to put him on trial.
Since then, he is said to have remained in the presidential residence, where he has refused to be arrested.
The police have made several unsuccessful attempts to arrest the deposed president. He has refused to leave his residence, described as a fortress, but there are also rumors that he may have fled from there.
