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South Korean investigators left the presidential residence after failing to arrest the impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol over his failed martial law bid on Friday because of a standoff at his residence.

"Regarding the execution of the arrest warrant today, it was determined that the execution was effectively impossible due to the ongoing standoff. Concern for the safety of personnel on-site led to the decision to halt the execution," the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) said in a statement.

The CIO noted that it stopped the execution at about 1:30 p.m. local time (0430 GMT), expressing deep regret over the attitude of Yoon who refused to comply with legal procedures.

The investigative unit added that it will decide on future measures after relevant reviews.

A group of CIO prosecutors and investigators attempted to arrest the impeached president over his martial law imposition in the presidential residence in central Seoul on Friday, but after confronting presidential security service agents, they had to stop proceeding with the arrest warrant.

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South Korean investigators moving to detain impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol

Live updates: South Korean investigators halt attempt to arrest Yoon

(With input from agencies)

South Korean investigators called off their attempt to arrest impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol over his failed martial law bid on Friday because of a standoff at his residence. 

"Regarding the execution of the arrest warrant today, it was determined that the execution was effectively impossible due to the ongoing standoff. Concern for the safety of personnel on-site led to the decision to halt the execution," the Corruption Investigation Office said in a statement.

A group of South Korean investigators with the anti-corruption investigative unit have confronted soldiers inside the presidential residence in central Seoul after entering at the main gate and attempting to arrest the impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol, Yonhap news agency said on Friday.

The investigators of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) were reportedly confronted by agents of the presidential security service, who protect Yoon at close range inside the residence.

South Korean prosecutors on Friday indicted the top commander of the army and the head of its special warfare unit over their alleged roles in the short-lived imposition of martial law early last month, Yonhap news agency reported.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Park An-su, who served as martial law commander, and Lt. Gen. Kwak Jong-keun, chief of the Army Special Warfare Command, were indicted under detention on charges of insurrection and abuse of power, Yonhap said, citing the prosecution handling their cases.

A group of South Korean investigators with the anti-corruption investigative unit have been confronting soldiers inside the presidential residence in central Seoul after entering the main gate and attempting to arrest the impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol, Yonhap news agency said Friday.

South Korean authorities sought on Friday to execute an unprecedented arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol, evading a crowd of protesters but facing off with security forces inside his residence, according to local media reports.

Yoon is under criminal investigation for insurrection over his December 3 martial law attempt that stunned South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy.

An arrest would be the first for an incumbent South Korean president.

Officials from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), which is leading a joint team of investigators that include the police and prosecutors, were reported to have arrived at the gates of Yoon's compound shortly after 7 a.m.

Media reports said the CIO vehicles did not immediately enter the compound, partly due to a bus blocking the driveway. Some CIO officials later filed through an opened gate on foot and past the bus, but then briefly faced another bus and an armoured vehicle further up the driveway before they were moved.

CIO investigators including senior prosecutor Lee Dae-hwan were let through heavy security barricades to enter the residence, according to AFP reporters.

However, they were "blocked by a military unit inside" after entering, Yonhap news agency reported. They later "moved past" that unit to "confront security service" members inside the residence.

According to multiple media reports, the chief of South Korea's presidential security service has not allowed investigators to search Yoon's residence in central Seoul for the execution of the arrest warrant.

Yoon's legal team decried the attempt, vowing to take further legal action against the move.

"The execution of a warrant that is illegal and invalid is indeed not lawful," Yoon's lawyer Yoon Kap-keun said.

Protesters gathered in the pre-dawn hours near the residence, with the numbers swelling into the hundreds amid media reports that investigating authorities would soon try to execute the arrest warrant that was approved on Tuesday after Yoon refused summons to appear.

Some 2,700 police and 135 police buses have been deployed to the area to prevent clashes, Yonhap reported, after Yoon's supporters faced off with anti-Yoon demonstrators on Thursday.

Surprise martial law

Yoon sent shockwaves through the country with a late-night announcement on December 3 that he was imposing martial law to overcome political deadlock and root out "anti-state forces."

Within hours, however, 190 lawmakers had defied the cordons of troops and police to vote against Yoon's order. About six hours after his initial decree, Yoon rescinded it.

He later issued a defiant defense of his decision, saying domestic political opponents are sympathetic to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and citing uncorroborated claims of election tampering.

Kim Yong-hyun, who resigned as Yoon's defense minister after playing a major role in the martial law decree, has been detained and was indicted last week on charges of insurrection and abuse of power.

Insurrection is one of the few criminal charges from which a South Korean president does not have immunity.

Yoon has been isolated since he was impeached and suspended from power on December 14.

Separate from the criminal investigation, his impeachment case is currently before the Constitutional Court to decide whether to reinstate or permanently remove him. A second hearing in that case is scheduled for later on Friday.

(With input from agencies)

A group of South Korean prosecutors and investigators of the anti-corruption investigative unit launched an attempt to arrest the impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol, multiple media outlets said Friday.

The prosecutors and investigators of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) walked into a road at the main gate leading to the presidential residence in central Seoul, TV footage showed.

The investigators were reportedly confronting agents of the presidential security service, who protect Yoon at close range inside the residence.

South Korean police have banned Jeju Air chief executive Kim E-bae from leaving the country amid an investigation into Sunday's deadly crash by the company's passenger jet, the country's Yonhap news agency reported on Thursday.

South Korean police started dispersing supporters of impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol by force near the presidential residence in central Seoul on Thursday afternoon as part of efforts to proceed with the arrest warrant against him, Yonhap news agency reported.

The warrant was issued by a Seoul court on Tuesday.