President Yoon Suk Yeol is facing a new and potentially more aggressive attempt to arrest him on insurrection charges, following a commitment from top investigator Oh Dong-woon to break through security barriers surrounding the presidential compound.

This comes after a court re-issued an arrest warrant for Yoon, who is embroiled in controversy over a martial law bid that led to unprecedented legal actions against a sitting president.

Protests both for and against Yoon continued on Wednesday, with demonstrators braving freezing temperatures outside the presidential compound. The situation escalated after Yoon failed to comply with summons for questioning regarding the charges against him.

In response to the growing tensions, the Presidential Security Service (PSS) has fortified the compound with barbed wire and barricades, using buses to block access to the hillside villa where Yoon is believed to be staying. This security enhancement follows a failed arrest attempt last Friday, which ended after a six-hour standoff when hundreds of PSS members and military guards formed a human chain to prevent investigators from entering.

Oh, the head of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), expressed determination to succeed in the upcoming arrest attempt. “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,” he stated during a parliament committee meeting.

The new arrest warrant’s duration remains unclear, but discussions within parliament have hinted at the possibility of employing more forceful measures to overcome presidential defenses, including the mobilization of police special tactical units and heavy equipment. Local media reports suggest that the operation could involve over 2,000 police officers to manage the situation, potentially taking several days to subdue the presidential security agents.

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The earlier attempt saw the CIO and police outnumbered by more than 200 PSS personnel, some armed, leading to physical altercations between the two groups.