HUNDREDS of South Koreans braved freezing temperatures and snow to rally near the residence of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol today, calling for his removal from office and arrest.

Authorities are preparing to renew their efforts to detain Mr Yoon over his short-lived martial law decree.

Dozens of anti-corruption agency investigators and police attempted to execute a detainment warrant against President Yoon on Friday, but retreated from his residence in Seoul after a tense five-hour standoff with the presidential security service.

The existing detention warrant runs out tomorrow. 

Hundreds of anti-Yoon protesters rallied for hours near the gates of the presidential residence from Saturday evening to Sunday, voicing frustration over the failed detention attempt and demanding stronger efforts to bring President Yoon into custody. 

Separated by police barricades and buses, pro-Yoon protesters were gathering in nearby streets, denouncing his impeachment and vowing to block any efforts to detain him.

“With barely a day left before the execution deadline for Yoon Seok Yeol’s detainment warrant, the presidential security service continues to hide a criminal and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials cannot be more relaxed,” Kim Eun Jeong, an activist, said on a stage during the anti-Yoon rally.

“Angry citizens have already spent two freezing nights demanding his immediate detainment. Are their voices not being heard?”

But there were no immediate indications that anti-corruption authorities were ready to send investigators back to the residence as of Sunday afternoon. 

A Seoul court issued the warrant to detain President Yoon and a separate warrant to search his residence last Tuesday, after the president defied authorities by refusing to appear for questioning and obstructing searches of his office. 

But enforcing them is complicated as long as Mr Yoon remains in his official residence.

Investigators from the country’s anti-corruption agency are weighing charges of rebellion after the right-wing president declared martial law on December 3 and dispatched troops to surround the National Assembly.

The Assembly overturned the declaration within hours in a unanimous vote and impeached President Yoon on December 14, accusing him of rebellion, while South Korean anti-corruption authorities and public prosecutors opened separate investigations into the events.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, which is leading a joint investigation with police and military investigators, says detaining President Yoon would be “virtually impossible” as long as he is protected by the presidential security service.