Behind rows of barbed wire and a small army of personal security, impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol remained holed up in his sprawling hillside villa with his wife, dogs and cats on Tuesday as investigators planned his arrest.

In a dramatic escalation of South Korea’s ongoing political crisis, anti-corruption investigators have sought a renewed arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, whose controversial attempt to impose martial law last month plunged the nation into turmoil.

With the arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol expiring on Monday, the South Korean anti-corruption agency asked police to detain the embattled leader.

South Korea's suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol remains defiant in his newly-fortified residence, as investigators seek to extend the arrest warrant over his short-lived martial law order. The current warrant - which was due to expire at midnight local time (15:00 GMT) - was issued after Yoon ignored multiple summonses to appear for questioning on insurrection and abuse of power charges.