Blocked by bodyguards, officials retreated after several hours without serving a court warrant to hold President Yoon Suk Yeol for questioning on insurrection charges.

South Korea’s presidential guards and military troops prevented authorities from arresting Yoon Suk Yeol, the impeached president, on Friday in a tense six-hour stand-off inside his compound in the heart of Seoul.

When Yoon was impeached three weeks ago, he was supposedly stripped of his power. So to have law enforcement officers trying to carry out an arrest - which they have legal warrant for - only to be blocked by Yoon's security team raises serious and uncomfortable questions about who is in charge here.