ACTING South Korean leader Choi Sang Mok accepted the resignation of presidential security service head Park Jong Joon today, as the latter faced police questioning over his forces blocking the detention of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Mr Choi, who is the deputy prime minister, also expressed regret over the clashes between the presidential security service and investigators attempting to detain Mr Yoon and called for MPs to reach a bipartisan agreement to launch an independent investigation.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials and police are planning a second attempt to bring President Yoon into custody as they jointly probe whether his brief martial law declaration on December 3 amounted to an attempted rebellion. 

The presidential security service blocked an earlier attempt to detain Mr Yoon at his official residence, which he has not left for weeks.

Mr Park ignored two summonses before appearing for questioning today on allegations of obstructing justice, a week after his forces repelled dozens of anti-corruption and police investigators from the president’s official residence. 

He said his duty was to protect the president and warned of “bloodshed,” but critics alleged that his agency was becoming Mr Yoon’s private army.

The anti-corruption office and police have vowed to make a second, more forceful effort to detain the president, warning that members of the presidential security staff could be arrested if they get in the way. 

It wasn’t immediately clear how Mr Park’s resignation and Mr Choi’s call for an independent investigation to take over the probe into Mr Yoon’s alleged rebellion would affect the push to take the president into custody.

Mr Yoon remains holed up at his official residence in Seoul, where the presidential security service has fortified the grounds with barbed wire and rows of vehicles blocking the roads.