Protesters have thronged the official residence of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, where officials trying to arrest him were blocked by security guards.

Lawyers of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (CIO) probing his short-lived martial law decree on Dec. 3 are at odds over whether the CIO has the authority to arrest and pursue criminal charges against him.

A standoff between rival government forces outside the presidential compound in South Korea has been a startling development, even for observers used to the country's famously rough and tumble politics.