The case, involving an inquiry into a marine’s death, had stoked political tensions long before President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment last month.

For weeks, impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol has remained in his compound and refused to respond to detention and search warrants.

South Korea’s acting leader has accepted the resignation of the chief of the presidential security service, Park Jong-joon, as he faced police questioning over how his forces blocked law enforcement efforts to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol last week.

South Korean presidential security chief Park Chong-jun plans to appear for questioning by police on Friday, a spokesperson for the security service said. Investigators seeking to arrest South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol for possible insurrection were blocked by his security staff in a six-hour standoff last week.

Hundreds of supporters gathered once again outside the president's official residence, pledging to protect him from South Korea's national anti-corruption agency.