Mr Yoon is South Korea ’s first sitting president to face arrest, after the CIO said on Tuesday that a Seoul court had granted the detention warrant sought by prosecutors investigating whether Mr Yoon’s shortlived declaration of martial law amounted to insurrection.

Tensions ran high near the residence of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol Thursday, as rival protesters clashed and hundreds of supporters formed a blockade to prevent his imminent arrest.