By Jack Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is facing a new and possibly tougher attempt to arrest him on sedition charges after a top investigator promised to everything will be done to break the security blockade and get the impeached leader.

Protesters both supporting and opposing the embattled Yoon continued to brave freezing temperatures to hold street rallies around the presidential compound on Wednesday after a court re-issued a warrant to arrest Yoon a day earlier.

The Presidential Security Service (PSS) was seen this week reinforcing the compound with barbed wire and barricades using buses to block access to the hillside villa where Yoon is believed to be located, defying the summons. to appear for questioning.

Yoon is under criminal investigation for insurrection because of his martial law bid on Dec. 3 that shocked South Korea and led to the first arrest warrant issued for a sitting president.

He was also involved in the separate trial of the Constitutional Court on his impeachment on December 14 for violating his constitutional duties with the declaration of martial law at night.

Oh Dong-woon, head of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) who led the investigation against Yoon, on Tuesday apologized for the failed arrest attempt on Friday after a tense six-hour standoff inside in the presidential compound.

Oh called off the arrest attempt after being blocked from entering the presidential compound by a human chain of hundreds of PSS members and military guards.

“We will do our best to achieve our goal by fully preparing this time with great determination that the second execution of the warrant will be the last,” Oh told the parliamentary committee. It was not immediately determined how long the new arrest warrant would last.

Oh did not object when members of parliament called for tough action to crack down on presidential guards and military troops inside the compound, but he declined to confirm what options were being considered.

Various scenarios reported by local media included the mobilization of special tactical forces of the police unit and heavy equipment to push the barricades, followed by more than 2,000 policemen to drag the guards of the president, which will last up to three days if needed to outfit the president’s security agents.

The CIO and police outnumbered the first attempt to arrest through cordons more than 200 PSS personnel, some of whom were armed, as well as troops seconded by the president’s security, because the two sides are fighting, a CIO official said.