Seoul: Military personnel on guard duty at the presidential residence will not be mobilized to obstruct investigators from attempting to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, the defense ministry said Tuesday. Investigators are expected to make a second attempt to detain Yoon this week over his short-lived martial law imposition, following a previous unsuccessful attempt that resulted in an hourslong standoff between the police and Yoon's security staff at the compound in central Seoul.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Col. Lee Kyung-ho, a defense ministry spokesperson, stated in a briefing that the military security unit will focus solely on its duty to guard the perimeters of the residence and will not be used to obstruct the execution of the warrant. The defense ministry has communicated its position to the Presidential Security Service (PSS), which confirmed that it would not deploy the military unit guarding the residence for such purposes.

Police suspect that during the first detainment attempt on Jan. 3, PSS officials directed the unit to participate in efforts to prevent investigators from detaining Yoon.