South Korean Police Raid President Yoon’s Office in Martial Law Inquiry

Rival political parties on Wednesday wrangled over when and how President Yoon Suk Yeol should be removed from office, as the police and prosecutors investigating possible insurrection charges closed in on him a week after his ill-fated declaration of martial law.

Police officers showed up at Mr. Yoon’s presidential compound in Seoul on Wednesday, wanting to search facilities there, including his office. Their main focus was to collect evidence that could show whether he had committed insurrection when he declared martial law late on Dec. 3 and sent military troops into the National Assembly.

But his presidential secret service stopped the police officers at the gate, blocking them from entering Mr. Yoon’s office. The search made slow progress as both sides discussed what data should be collected by the presidential staff and handed over to the police at the gate.

Martial law lasted only six hours. The National Assembly quickly passed a resolution demanding an end to it, forcing Mr. Yoon to lift it. But the situation has pushed South Korea into a constitutional crisis and set off nationwide calls for the president’s removal. It also prompted the police and prosecutors to begin investigating the roles of Mr. Yoon and his supporters in the government and military in executing the law.

Mr. Yoon has been barred from leaving the country but has not been summoned for questioning. He faces the possibility of becoming the first South Korean president arrested on criminal charges while in office.

Mr. Yoon’s governing People Power Party, or P.P.P., has said it wants to give him an “orderly exit,” rather than to impeach him as the opposition is seeking to do. On Wednesday, an emergency task force of governing party lawmakers said they wanted Mr. Yoon to step down either in February or in March.