The case, involving an inquiry into a marine’s death, had stoked political tensions long before President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment last month.

Yoon Suk Yeol’s bodyguards thwarted investigators in another tense showdown resulting from his short-lived martial law decree.

South Korean law enforcement officials have requested a court warrant to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol as they investigate whether his short-lived martial law decree this month amounted to rebellion.

The impeached president faces an attempt by authorities to arrest him over his short-lived Dec. 3 martial law.

It was unclear when and how police could make the arrest and whether the presidential security service, which has blocked access by investigators with a search warrant to Yoon's office and official residence,

South Korean police has questioned the chief of the presidential security service as the two agencies clashed over attempts to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's security chief said on Friday the impeached leader, who faces arrest over a criminal probe into his Dec. 3 martial law bid, has been unfairly treated for a sitting leader and warned bloodshed must be avoided.

Hundreds of supporters gathered once again outside the president's official residence, pledging to protect him from South Korea's national anti-corruption agency.

Yoon Kab-keun, one of the lawyers representing South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, said on Thursday that Yoon was staying in his official residence. The lawyer made the comment in a briefing to reporters following recent speculation over the suspended president's whereabouts.

South Korean presidential security chief Park Chong-jun plans to appear for questioning by police on Friday, a spokesperson for the security service said. Investigators seeking to arrest South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol for possible insurrection were blocked by his security staff in a six-hour standoff last week.