A standoff between rival government forces outside the presidential compound in South Korea has been a startling development, even for observers used to the country's famously rough and tumble politics.

Lawyers of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (CIO) probing his short-lived martial law decree on Dec. 3 are at odds over whether the CIO has the authority to arrest and pursue criminal charges against him.

South Korea's police have been asked to arrest suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol, the Yonhap news agency reported on Monday. Dozens of investigators working for the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) attempted to execute a court warrant for Yoon's detention on Friday after he ignored three summonses for questioning over his botched attempt to impose martial law on December 3.