South Korea’s police moved their forces to the second-highest level of alert, Korean media reported on Thursday.
The police stepped up security measures, a day before the Constitutional Court is set to rule on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment case over his attempt to impose martial law.
The Eulho alert level calls for half of all available police forces to be placed on emergency alert, while the Kapho level, which will activate all forces, is scheduled to be put in place on Friday.
Earlier, police completed an operation to create a “vacuum zone” around the Constitutional Court, cordoning off the area within a 150-metre radius with police buses.
Police in Seoul plan to deploy some 14,000 officers on Friday.
Meanwhile, protesters both for and against impeachment are preparing for overnight sit-ins. The Constitutional Court announced that it will decide on the impeachment case against President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday at 11:00 a.m. local time.
Yoon has decided not to attend the announcement of the Constitutional Court’s decision on his impeachment case.
“The president has decided not to attend the impeachment proceedings tomorrow, the day the verdict is announced. Concerns due to possible large crowds and issues related to the maintenance of order and security of the president have been taken into consideration,” the lawyers said in a statement.
