There are indications that the criminal investigators in South Korea have mobilized over 2,000 police to wear down or overcome the men of the Presidential Security Service, PSS currently protecting the country’s impeached President, Yoon Suk Yeol from being arrested after Court re-issued order of arrest on Tuesday when the previous court order expired with failed attempt by the criminal investigators to carry out the arrest order last week due to stand off mounted by heavily armed PSS.

Local media on Wednesday reported that the South Korea’s Presidential Security Service, an agency assigned to protect the president, prides itself on being the last bastion for a safe and stable state administration is now at the heart of South Korea’s biggest political mess in decades, acting as a final line of defense to prevent criminal investigators from detaining President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The media reported that the impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s residence has been turned into a “fortress”, with layers of barbed wire and vehicle blockades protecting the elusive leader as at on Wednesday.

It was gathered that the 64-year-old former prosecutor was at home when investigators carried out their failed attempt to arrest him last week and was still there until early this week, the Yonhap news agency, citing police, reported on Wednesday.

The Criminal investigators say they are now unsure of his whereabouts as Yoon keeps them guessing behind a wall of protection even though a new warrant cleared the way for renewed efforts to arrest him.

“I am considering various possibilities,” Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) chief Oh Dong-woon said on Tuesday in response to a lawmaker who asked if Yoon had already fled.

South Korea’s Presidential Security Service was seen fortifying the hillside villa where President Yoon Suk Yeol is believed to be, according to media reporters on ground motoring the situation.

Reuters on Wenesday stated that various scenarios reported in local media included mobilising police special tactical units and heavy equipment to push through the barricades, followed by more than 2,000 police to drag out presidential guards, taking as long as three days if necessary to wear down presidential security agents.

Adding, protesters both supporting and opposing the embattled Yoon have continued to brave freezing temperatures to stage rallies on the streets around the presidential compound on Wednesday after a court re-issued a warrant to arrest Yoon earlier on Tuesday.

The Presidential Security Service (PSS) was seen this week fortifying the compound with barbed wire and barricades using buses to block access to the hillside villa where Yoon is believed to be, having defied summons to appear for questioning.

South Korea impeached President, Yoon Suk Yeol is facing a new and potentially more robust attempt to arrest him for insurrection after a top investigator vowed to do whatever it takes to break a security blockade and take in the impeached leader. He also faces an impeachment trial in the Constitutional Court.

One of Yoon’s lawyers in a statement on Wednesday, said, the president could not accept the execution of the arrest warrant because it was issued by a court in the wrong jurisdiction and the CIO had no authority to investigate the incumbent leader.

Yoon Kap-keun, the lawyer, also denied suggestions by some members of parliament that Yoon had fled the official residence, saying he had met the president there on Tuesday. He said they were “malicious” rumours intended to slander Yoon.

On Tuesday, Oh Dong-woon, head of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), which is leading the investigation into Yoon, apologised for failing to arrest the president last week after a six-hour stand off with hundreds of PSS agents and military guards at the compound.

“We’ll do our best to accomplish our goal by thoroughly preparing this time with great determination that the second warrant execution will be the last,” Oh said during the parliament committee meeting.

At the Parliament Committee meeting, Oh refused to specify how many days the court had given before the new arrest warrant expired, citing a need to keep plans for the new attempt internal.

“Yoon’s home — a former foreign ministry residence — is nestled in Hannam-dong, an affluent Seoul neighbourhood along the Han River renowned for its luxurious homes, some of the country’s most expensive.

It is also popular with K-pop stars, reportedly including members of the megagroup BTS, and hosts many foreign embassies.

Situated in Yongsan district, which stationed colonial troops during Japanese rule and American troops after World War II, it now plays host to Yoon’s own legion”, according to AFP.