S. Korean police disperse Yoon supporters near presidential residence

SEOUL - South Korean police dispersed some of the supporters for the impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol Thursday afternoon near the presidential residence in central Seoul, Yonhap news agency said.

Police officers broke up about 30 supporters, who had lain down on the road in front of the presidential residence's main gate to block investigators from entering the residence.

The officers grabbed the limbs of the supporters and pulled them out one by one, moving them elsewhere by force.

The warrant to arrest Yoon was issued by a Seoul court on Tuesday, and the joint investigative unit to probe Yoon's martial law imposition in early December reportedly planned to raid the presidential residence as early as Thursday afternoon.

The arrest warrant was scheduled to be effective for a week until Jan. 6.

It marked the first time in the country's modern history that an arrest warrant was issued against a sitting president.

The impeachment motion against Yoon was passed in the National Assembly on Dec. 14 and was delivered to the constitutional court to deliberate it for up to 180 days, during which Yoon's power is suspended.