Will South Korea's conservative president, Yoon Suk Yeol, be arrested? On January 7, a month after Yoon declared martial law, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) obtained an extension for its arrest warrant, which had expired the day before. The president, however, is clinging on to power: On January 3, in a tense confrontation, 200 members of the presidential guard prevented CIO investigators from questioning him. Yoon has been impeached by the National Assembly and is now facing multiple charges of insurrection, abuse of power, and obstruction. However, he has remained defiant, launching both legal and political counter-attacks and promising his supporters that he will fight "to the very end," which, according to a poll, has earned him a clear resurgence in popularity.

Created in 2021 under Democratic President Moon Jae-in (2017-2022) as part of a reform aimed at reducing the power of the public prosecutor's office, the CIO, which investigates corruption cases involving public figures such as the president, was the first agency to attempt to arrest Yoon – but it is not the only one investigating him.

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