SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military fired warning shots after North Korean soldiers crossed the rivals’ tense border on Tuesday, South Korean officials said, the first known border intrusion by North Korea in nearly a year.

Violent confrontations and bloodshed have occasionally happened at the Koreas’ heavily fortified border, called the Demilitarized Zone. But Tuesday’s incident won’t likely escalate, as it didn’t cause any casualties on either side and North Korea hasn’t returned fire.

About 10 North Korean soldiers — some carrying weapons — violated the military demarcation line at the eastern section of the DMZ at 5 p.m. They returned to North Korea after South Korea broadcast warnings and fired warning shots, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

South Korea’s military said it is closely monitoring North Korean activities. It said North Korea didn’t return fire.

In June last year, North Korean troops violated the border three times, prompting South Korea to fire warning shots. The incidents occurred when the Koreas were embroiled in Cold War-style campaigns like balloon launches and propaganda broadcasts, but they didn’t develop into a major source of tensions.

South Korea’s military assessed at the time that the North Korean soldiers didn’t deliberately commit the border intrusion and the site was a wooded area where military demarcation line signs weren’t clearly visible. Observers said the North Korean soldiers might have accidently crossed the border while adding anti-tank barriers, planting mines or engaging in other works to boost border defenses.

The motive for Tuesday’s border crossing by North Korean soldiers wasn’t immediately clear.

South Korea’s military said in late March that North Korea was resuming front-line works such as reinforcing barbed wire fences. South Korean media, citing the military, reported that North Korean soldiers might have unintentionally intruded into South Korea’s territory on Tuesday during a patrol mission ahead of unspecified front-line works.

In October, North Korea said it would build defense structures at the border to cope with “confrontational hysteria” by South Korean and U.S. forces. That was seen as an effort to beef up its front-line security posture and prevent its soldiers and citizens from defecting to South Korea.

The 248-kilometer (155-mile) -long, 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) -wide DMZ is one of the world’s most heavily armed borders. An estimated 2 million mines are peppered inside and near the border, which is also guarded by barbed wire fences, tank traps and combat troops on both sides. It’s a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Animosities between the Koreas are running high now as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continues to flaunt his military nuclear capabilities and align with Russia over President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine. Kim is also ignoring calls by Seoul and Washington to resume denuclearization negotiations.

Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, U.S. President Donald Trump has said he would reach out to Kim again to revive diplomacy. North Korea has not responded to Trump’s remarks and says U.S. hostilities against it have deepened since Trump’s inauguration. Experts say Kim could eventually return to talks with Trump, hoping that his advancing nuclear program would help North Korea win greater U.S. concessions.

South Korea, meanwhile, is experiencing a leadership vacuum after the ouster of President Yoon Suk Yeol last week over his ill-fated imposition of martial law. Yoon’s push to expand military drills with the U.S. had infuriated North Korea. __

Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s Constitutional Court removed impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol from office on Friday, ending his tumultuous presidency and setting up an election to find a new leader, four months after he threw South Korean politics into turmoil with an ill-fated declaration of martial law.

The unanimous verdict capped a dramatic fall for Yoon, a former star prosecutor who went from political novice to president in 2022, just a year after he entered politics.

In a nationally televised verdict, the court’s acting chief Moon Hyung-bae said the eight-member bench upheld Yoon’s impeachment because his martial law decree seriously violated the constitution and other laws.

“The defendant not only declared martial law, but also violated the constitution and laws by mobilizing military and police forces to obstruct the exercise of legislative authority,” Moon said, “Ultimately, the declaration of martial law in this case violated the substantive requirements for emergency martial law.”

“Given the grave negative impact on constitutional order and the significant ripple effects of the defendant’s violations, we find that the benefits of upholding the constitution by removing the defendant from office far outweigh the national losses from the removal of a president,” the justice concluded.

At an anti-Yoon rally near the old royal palace that dominates downtown Seoul, people erupted into tears and danced when the verdict was announced. Two women wept as they hugged and an old man near them leapt to his feet and screamed with joy.

The crowd later began marching through Seoul streets. Some people were dressed in cute blue bear costumes, a protest mascot that uses the opposition’s colors.

An election will be held within two months to repalce Yoon, but a festering national divide over Yoon’s impeachment will likely continue and could complicate South Korea’s efforts to deal with President Donald Trump’s “America First” policies and North Korea’s expanding ties with Russia, observers say.

One of Yoon’s lawyers, Yoon Kap-keun, called the ruling “completely incomprehensible” and a “pure political decision,” but the former president did not immediately issue a statement. Yoon’s ruling People Power Party said it would accept the decision.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the country’s acting leader, in a televised speech vowed to ensure “there are no gaps in national security and diplomacy” and maintain public safety and order. Han was appointed prime minister by Yoon and became acting leader when Yoon’s powers were suspended by impeachment.

“Respecting the will of our sovereign people, I will do my utmost to manage the next presidential election in accordance with the constitution and the law, ensuring a smooth transition to the next administration,” Han said.

Surveys show Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favorite to win election to choose Yoon’s successor. Lee is facing trials for corruption and other charges.

Lee welcomed the ruling and credited the South Korean people for “protecting our democratic republic.”

“The courage of the people who stood in the face of guns, swords and tanks, along with the bravery of troops who refused to obey unjust orders, has led to this great revolution of light,” Lee said.

Martial law lasted only six hours, but left behind a political crisis, rattling financial markets and unsettling the country’s diplomatic partners. In January, Yoon was separately arrested and indicted by prosecutors on alleged rebellion in connection with his decree, a charge that carries the death penalty or a life sentence if convicted.

Under Yoon’s decree, the first of its kind in more than 40 years, hundreds of soldiers were dispatched to the assembly, election offices and other sites. Special operations soldiers smashed windows at the National Assembly and scuffled with citizens gathered to protest, shocking South Koreans and evoking traumatic memories of military rule.

Enough lawmakers, including some from the ruling party, managed to enter the assembly to vote down his decree unanimously.

No major violence occurred during the brief period of martial law, but some senior military and police officers sent to the assembly have testified that Yoon ordered them to drag out lawmakers to block a vote on his decree or to detain his political rivals. Yoon says the troops were deployed to the assembly simply to maintain order.

Yoon, 64, a conservative, was impeached by the liberal opposition-controlled National Assembly on Dec. 14. The assembly accused him of violating the constitution and other laws by suppressing assembly activities, attempting to detain politicians, and undermining peace across the country.

In his final testimony at the Constitutional Court hearing, Yoon said his decree was a desperate attempt to draw public support of his fight against the “wickedness” of the Democratic Party, which had obstructed his agenda, impeached top officials and slashed the government’s budget bill. He earlier called the National Assembly “a den of criminals” and “anti-state forces.”

Some experts say Yoon may have imposed military rule to head off a possible independent investigation into scandals involving his wife, Kim Keon Hee.

Without presidential immunity, Yoon could face other criminal charges, such as abuse of power. He’s the first South Korean president to be arrested or indicted while in office.

Yoon served as prosecutor-general under his predecessor, liberal President Moon Jae-in, before joining the now-ruling party in 2021 following disputes with Moon allies. A public image as strong-minded and uncompromising helped him defeat Lee in the close-fought 2022 presidential election. But after becoming president, Yoon has faced criticism that he refused to replace officials implicated in scandals and vetoed many bills passed by the assembly.

On foreign policy, Yoon pushed hard to bolster South Korea’s military alliance with the United States and overcome long-running disputes with Japan over historical traumas. He said that a greater Seoul-Washington-Tokyo security partnership is essential to coping with North Korea’s growing nuclear threats. Critics of Yoon accused him of unnecessarily provoking North Korea and neglecting relations with China, South Korea’s biggest trading partner.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Wind-driven wildfires that were among South Korea’s worst ever were ravaging the country’s southern regions, killing 24 people, destroying more than 200 structures and forcing 27,000 people to evacuate, officials said Wednesday.

The death toll included a pilot who died after a helicopter crashed during efforts to contain wildfires in the southeastern town of Uiseong, one of the areas hardest-hit. The aircraft had no other crew members. The National Fire Agency said at least 26 other people sustained varying degrees of injuries.

An ancient Buddhist temple, houses, factories and vehicles were among the structures destroyed in the wildfires that have burned 43,330 acres, the government’s emergency response center said.

In a televised address, South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo said the wildfires that began last Friday were causing worse damage than many other past wildfires.

“Damages are snowballing,” Han said. “There are concerns that we’ll have wildfire damages that we’ve never experienced, so we have to concentrate all our capabilities to put out the wildfires in the rest of this week.”

Han said crews were struggling to extinguish the wildfires because strong winds swept the areas overnight. Han said about 4,650 firefighters, soldiers and other personnel were working Wednesday to extinguish the wildfires with the help of about 130 helicopters. He said that “a small amount” of 5-10 millimeters of rain was expected Thursday.

Observers say the ongoing wildfires are the third biggest in South Korea in terms of land burned.

Officials in several southeastern cities and towns had ordered residents to evacuate Tuesday as firefighters struggled to contain multiple blazes fueled by dry winds. The largest fires were in Andong, the neighboring counties of Uiseong and Sancheong, and the city of Ulsan, according to South Korea’s Interior Ministry.

Earlier on Tuesday, officials had said firefighters had extinguished most of the flames from the largest wildfires in those areas, but wind and dry conditions allowed the blazes to spread again. But efforts to fight the fires were partially suspended overnight as the winds strengthened.

The blaze in Uiseong destroyed nearly half of more than 30 structures at Gounsa, a temple which was said to be originally built in the 7th century. Among the destroyed structures were two state-designated “treasures” — a pavilion-shaped structure built on a stream built in 1668 and a Joseon Dynasty structure built in 1904 to mark the longevity of a king.

The temple’s another state-designated “treasure,” a stone Buddha statue reportedly manufactured in the 8th century, was evacuated to a safe place, according to government and Buddhist officials.

The Justice Ministry said it protectively removed 500 inmates from a detention center in Cheongsong, another southern town, but no damages were reported to the facility.

The Korea Forest Service said it had raised its wildfire warning to the highest “serious” level nationwide Tuesday, requiring local governments to assign more workers to emergency response, tighten entry restrictions for forests and parks, and recommend that military units withhold live-fire exercises.

The 18 dead include four firefighters and government workers who were killed in Sancheong on Saturday after being trapped by fast-moving flames driven by strong winds, according to officials.

Government officials suspect human error caused several of the fires, possibly due to the use of fire while clearing overgrown grass in family tombs or sparks from welding work.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A passenger plane caught fire before takeoff at an airport in South Korea late Tuesday, but all 176 people on board were safely evacuated, authorities said.

The Airbus plane operated by South Korean airline Air Busan was preparing to leave for Hong Kong when its rear parts caught fire at Gimhae International Airport in the southeast, the Transport Ministry said in a statement.

The plane’s 169 passengers, six crewmembers and one engineer were evacuated using an escape slide, the ministry said.

The National Fire Agency said in a release that three people suffered minor injuries during the evacuation. The fire agency said the fire was completely put out at 11:31 p.m., about one hour after it deployed firefighters and fire trucks at the scene.

The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately known. The Transport Ministry said the plane is an A321 model.

Tuesday’s incident came a month after a Jeju Air passenger plane crashed at Muan International Airport in southern South Korea, killing all but two of the 181 people on board. It was one of the deadliest disasters in South Korea’s aviation history.

The Boeing 737-800 skidded off the airport’s runaway on Dec. 29 after its landing gear failed to deploy, slamming into a concrete structure and bursting into flames. The flight was returning from Bangkok and all of the victims were South Koreans except for two Thai nationals.

The first report on the crash released Monday said authorities have confirmed traces of bird strikes in the plane’s engines, though officials haven’t determined the cause of the accident.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean prosecutors on Sunday indicted impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on rebellion in connection with his short-lived imposition of martial law, news reports said, a criminal charges that could put him to death or jail for life if convicted.

This is the latest blow to Yoon, who was impeached and arrested over his Dec. 3 martial law decree that plunged the country into huge political turmoil, shaking South Korean politics and financial markets as well as its international image. Separate from criminal judicial proceedings, the Constitutional Court is now deliberating whether to formally dismiss Yoon as president or reinstate him.

South Korean media outlets, including Yonhap news agency, reported that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Yoon over rebellion. Calls to the prosecutors’ office and Yoon’s lawyers went unanswered.

Yoon, a conservative, has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing, calling his martial law a legitimate act of governance meant to raise public awareness of the danger of the liberal-controlled National Assembly which obstructed his agenda and impeached top officials. During his announcement of martial law, Yoon called the assembly “a den of criminals” and vowed to eliminate “shameless North Korea followers and anti-state forces.”

After declaring martial law on Dec. 3, Yoon sent troops and police officers to the assembly, but enough lawmakers still managed to enter an assembly chamber to vote down Yoon’s decree unanimously, forcing his Cabinet to lift it.

The martial law imposition, the first of its kind in South Korea in more than 40 years, lasted only six hours. However, it evoked painful memories of past dictatorial rules in the 1960s-80s when military-backed rulers used martial laws and emergency decrees to suppress opponents.

South Korea’s constitution gives the president the power to declare martial law to keep order in wartime and other comparable emergency states, but many experts say the country wasn’t under such conditions when Yoon declared martial law.

Yoon insists he had no intentions of disrupting assembly work i ncluding its floor vote on his decree and that the dispatch of troops and police forces was meant to maintain order. But commanders of military units sent to the assembly have told assembly hearings or investigators that Yoon ordered them to drag out lawmakers.

Investigations on Yoon have intensified the country’s already serious internal division, with rival protesters regularly staging rallies in downtown Seoul.

After a local court on Jan. 19 approved a formal arrest warrant to extend Yoon’s detainment, dozens of his supporters stormed the court building, destroying windows, doors and other property. They also attacked police officers with bricks, steel pipes and other objects. The violence left 17 police officers injured, and police said they detained 46 protesters.

Yoon earlier resisted efforts by investigative authorities to question or detain him. He then was apprehended on Jan. 15 in a massive law enforcement operation at his presidential compound.

Leading Yoon’s investigation was the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, but since his detainment Yoon has refused to attend CIO’s questioning, saying it has no legal authority to investigate rebellion allegations. The CIO has said it can investigate Yoon’s rebellion allegation as it’s related to his abuse of power and other allegations.

Yoon has presidential immunity from most criminal prosecutions, but the privilege does not extend to allegations of rebellion or treason.

The CIO handed over Yoon’s case to the Seoul prosecutors’ office Friday and asked it to indict him on rebellion, abuse of power and obstruction of the National Assembly. By law in South Korea, the leader of a rebellion can face life in prison or the death penalty.

In a statement Saturday, Yoon’s defense team urged prosecutors to immediately release Yoon and launch an investigation on the CIO.

Yoon’s defense minister, police chief and several other military commanders have already been arrested over their roles in the martial law decree.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol, was formally arrested early Sunday, days after being apprehended at his presidential compound in Seoul. He faces possible imprisonment over his ill-fated declaration of martial law last month.

Yoon’s arrest could mark the beginning of an extended period in custody for him, lasting months or more.

The decision to arrest Yoon triggered unrest at the Seoul Western District Court, where dozens of his supporters destroyed the court’s main door and windows. They used plastic chairs and police shields that they managed to wrestle away from officers. Some got inside a hallway and were seen throwing objects and using fire extinguishers.

Hundreds of police officers were deployed to suppress the riot at the court. Dozens of people were arrested on-site, while some injured police officers were seen being treated at ambulance vans. It wasn’t immediately clear whether any court staff were injured.

Following an hourlong deliberation, the court granted law enforcement’s request for an arrest warrant on Yoon, seeing him as a threat to destroy evidence. Yoon and his lawyers on Saturday appeared before the court’s judge during a hearing and argued for his release.

Yoon, who has been in detention since he was apprehended Wednesday in a massive law enforcement operation at his residential compound, faces potential rebellion charges linked to his declaration of martial law on Dec. 3, which set off the country’s most serious political crisis since its democratization in the late 1980s.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, which is leading a joint investigation with police and the military, can now extend Yoon’s detention to 20 days, during which they will transfer the case to public prosecutors for indictment.

Yoon’s lawyers could also file a petition to challenge the court’s arrest warrant.

Yoon’s appearance in court triggered chaotic scenes in nearby streets, where thousands of his fervent supporters rallied for hours calling for his release. Even before the court issued a warrant for Yoon’s arrest, protesters repeatedly clashed with police who detained dozens of them, including about 20 who climbed over a fence in an attempt to approach the court. At least two vehicles carrying anti-corruption investigators were damaged as they left the court after arguing for Yoon’s arrest.

Yoon’s lawyers said he spoke for about 40 minutes to the judge during the nearly five-hour closed-door hearing on Saturday. His legal team and anti-corruption agencies presented opposing arguments about whether he should be held in custody. The lawyers did not share his specific comments.

Following the hearing, Yoon was transported back to the detention center, where he awaited the decision. Neither Yoon nor his lawyers immediately commented on the arrest warrant.

Yoon was transported to the court from a detention center in Uiwang, near Seoul, in a blue Justice Ministry van escorted by police and the presidential security service, to attend the hearing at the court ahead of its warrant decision.

The motorcade entered the court’s basement parking space as thousands of Yoon’s supporters gathered in nearby streets despite a heavy police presence. Some protesters broke through the police lines and tapped on the windows of his van approaching the court. Yoon did not speak to reporters.

After its investigators were attacked by protesters later on Saturday, the anti-corruption agency asked media companies to obscure the faces of its members attending the hearing.

Yoon Kab-keun, one of the president’s lawyers, said the president planned to argue to the judge that his decree was a legitimate exercise of his powers and that accusations of rebellion would not hold up before a criminal court or the Constitutional Court, which is reviewing whether to formally remove him from office or reinstate him.

Yoon’s defense minister, police chief, and several top military commanders have already been arrested and indicted for their roles in the enforcement of martial law.

The crisis began when Yoon, in an attempt to break through legislative gridlock, imposed military rule and sent troops to the National Assembly and election offices. The standoff lasted only hours after lawmakers who managed to get through a blockade voted to lift the measure. The opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on Dec. 14.

If prosecutors indict Yoon on rebellion and abuse of power charges, which are the allegations now being examined by investigators, they could keep him in custody for up to six months before trial.

Under South Korean law, orchestrating a rebellion is punishable by life imprisonment or the death penalty.

Yoon’s lawyers have argued that there is no need to detain him during the investigation, saying he doesn’t pose a threat to flee or destroy evidence.

Investigators respond that Yoon ignored several requests to appear for questioning, and that the presidential security service blocked an attempt to detain him on Jan. 3. His defiance has raised concerns about whether he would comply with criminal court proceedings if he’s not under arrest.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s anti-corruption agency says impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol has been detained hours after the hundreds of the agency’s investigators and police officers arrived at his presidential compound to apprehend him.

A series of black SUVs, some equipped with sirens, were seen leaving the presidential compound with police escorts.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Hundreds of law enforcement officers entered the residential compound of South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol early Wednesday in their second attempt to detain him over his imposition of martial law last month.

Investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials were negotiating with the president’s attorneys, and Yoon had not been apprehended as of midmorning.

A lawyer on Yoon’s legal team said the president agreed to be investigated at the anti-corruption agency on Wednesday and was also preparing a public statement. He said Yoon was willing to travel to the agency in the nearby city of Gwacheon once its investigators and police officers retreat from his residence and security details are in place. But it was unclear whether the agency would accept the offer for voluntary questioning instead of bringing him to custody.

The officers seemingly encountered no meaningful resistance from presidential security forces as they approached Yoon’s residence and there were no immediate reports of clashes.

More than a thousand anti-corruption investigators and police officers could be deployed in the operation to apprehend Yoon, who has been holed up in the Hannam-dong residence in the capital, Seoul, for weeks while vowing to “fight to the end” against the efforts to oust him.

Yoon has justified his declaration of martial law Dec. 3 as a legitimate act of governance against an “anti-state” opposition employing its legislative majority to thwart his agenda.

Yoon’s lawyers were trying to persuade investigators not to execute the detention warrant, saying the president would voluntarily appear for questioning, but the agency told reporters they weren’t immediately considering that option.

The anti-corruption agency is leading a joint investigation with police and the military over whether Yoon’s martial law declaration amounted to an attempted rebellion and sought to bring him into custody after he ignored several summons for questioning. They have pledged more forceful measures to detain him after the presidential security service blocked their initial efforts on Jan. 3.

Following an hourslong standoff at the compound’s gate, anti-corruption investigators and police officers were seen moving up the hilly compound. Police officers were earlier seen using ladders to climb over rows of buses placed by the presidential security service near the compound’s entrance.

Anti-corruption investigators and police later arrived in front of a metal gate with a gold presidential mark that’s near Yoon’s residential building. Some officers were seen entering a security door on the side of the metal gate, joined by one of Yoon’s lawyers and his chief of staff. The presidential security service later removed a bus and other vehicles that had been parked tightly inside the gate as a barricade.

Seok Dong-hyeon, a lawyer for Yoon, said attorneys at the residence were negotiating with the anti-corruption agency over the possibility the president could voluntarily appear for questioning.

It was unclear whether law enforcement would accept the offer from Yoon’s lawyers, as the president previously evaded multiple requests to appear for questioning before the agency sought court warrants for his detention.

Despite a court warrant for Yoon’s detention, the presidential security service has insisted it’s obligated to protect the impeached president and has fortified the compound with barbed wire and rows of buses blocking paths.

If investigators manage to detain Yoon Suk Yeol, they will likely ask a court for permission to make a formal arrest. Otherwise, he will be released after 48 hours.

As tensions escalated, South Korea’s acting leader, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, issued a statement early Wednesday urging law enforcement and the presidential security service to ensure there are no “physical clashes.”

The liberal opposition Democratic Party, which drove a legislative campaign that led to Yoon’s impeachment on Dec. 14, issued a statement calling for the presidential security service to stand down and cooperate with Yoon’s detention. Lawmakers from Yoon’s People Power Party held a rally near the presidential residence, decrying the efforts to detain him as unlawful.

The National Police Agency has convened multiple meetings of field commanders in Seoul and nearby Gyeonggi province in recent days to plan their detainment efforts, and the size of those forces fueled speculation that more than a thousand officers could be deployed in a possible multiday operation. The agency and police have openly warned that presidential bodyguards obstructing the execution of the warrant could be arrested.

Yoon’s lawyers said the presidential security service will continue to provide security for Yoon and claimed that the detainment warrant issued by the Seoul Western District Court was invalid. They cited a law that protects locations potentially linked to military secrets from search without the consent of the person in charge — which would be Yoon. The court warrant for Yoon’s detainment is valid through Jan. 21.

Yoon’s supporters and critics have held competing protests near the residence — one side vowing to protect him, the other calling for his imprisonment — while thousands of police officers in yellow jackets closely monitored the tense situation.

Yoon declared martial law and deployed troops around the National Assembly on Dec. 3. It lasted only hours before lawmakers managed to get through the blockade and vote to lift the measure.

Yoon’s presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on Dec. 14, accusing him of rebellion. His fate now rests with the Constitutional Court, which has begun deliberating on whether to formally remove Yoon from office or reject the charges and reinstate him.

The Constitutional Court held its first formal hearing in the case on Tuesday, but the session lasted less than five minutes because Yoon refused to attend. The next hearing is set for Thursday, and the court will then proceed with the trial whether or not Yoon is there.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The black boxes of a Boeing jetliner that crashed in South Korea last month stopped recording about four minutes before the accident, South Korean officials said Saturday, possibly complicating investigations into the cause of the disaster that killed 179 people.

After analyzing the devices, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board concluded that both the flight data and cockpit voice recorders stopped working about four minutes before the crash, the South Korean Transportation Ministry said.

The Boeing 737-800 operated by Jeju Air skidded off a runway in the South Korean town of Muan on Dec. 29 after its landing gear failed to deploy, slamming into a concrete structure and bursting into flames, killing all but two of the 181 people on board.

After initially analyzing the black boxes, South Korean officials sent the devices to the NTSB for closer examination after discovering that some of the data was missing. The transportation ministry said it wasn’t immediately clear why the devices failed to record data in the last four minutes.

“Data from the CVR ( cockpit voice recorder) and FDR (flight data recorder) are crucial in investigating accidents, but such investigations are conducted through the examination and analysis of various sources of information, and we plan to do our utmost to determine the cause of the accident,” the ministry said in a statement.

South Korean investigators have said that air traffic controllers warned the pilot about possible bird strikes two minutes before the aircraft issued a distress signal confirming that a bird strike had occurred, after which the pilot attempted an emergency landing.

South Korean officials have also pledged to improve airport safety after experts linked the high death toll to Muan airport’s localizer system, the structure hit by the aircraft as it crashed. The localizer, a set of antennas designed to guide aircraft during landings, was housed in a concrete structure covered with dirt on an elevated embankment. This has raised questions about whether the structure should have been built with lighter materials that would break more easily upon impact.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s anti-corruption agency has requested that police take over efforts to detain impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol after its investigators failed to bring him to custody following a standoff with the presidential security service last week.

The agency and police confirmed the discussion on Monday, hours before the one-week warrant for Yoon’s detention was to expire.

The Seoul Western District Court last Tuesday issued a warrant to detain Yoon and a separate warrant to search his residence after the embattled president defied authorities by refusing to appear for questioning over his short-lived martial law decree on Dec. 3. But executing those warrants is complicated as long as Yoon remains in his official residence.

Yoon has described his power grab as a necessary act of governance against a liberal opposition bogging down his agenda with its legislative majority and has vowed to “fight to the end” against efforts to oust him. While martial law lasted only several hours, it set off turmoil that has shaken the country’s politics, diplomacy and financial markets for weeks and exposed the fragility of South Korea’s democracy while society is deeply polarized.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials will likely seek a new court warrant to extend the window for Yoon’s detention, according to police, which said it was internally reviewing the agency’s request. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the anti-corruption agency will make another attempt to detain Yoon on Monday before the deadline expires at midnight.

The anti-corruption agency has faced questions about its competence after failing to detain Yoon on Friday, and police have the resources to possibly make a more forceful attempt to detain him.

Yoon’s legal team claimed in a statement that the agency’s move to delegate execution of the detainment warrant to police is illegal, saying there’s no legal grounds for it to delegate certain parts of an investigation process to another agency. Yoon’s lawyers had submitted an objection to the warrants against the president on Thursday, but the Seoul Western District Court dismissed the challenge on Sunday.

Yoon’s lawyers also on Monday filed complaints with public prosecutors against the anti-corruption agency’s chief prosecutor, Oh Dong-woon, and six other anti-corruption and police officers for orchestrating Friday’s detainment attempt, which they claim was illegal.

The lawyers also filed complaints against the country’s acting national police chief, the acting defense minister and two Seoul police officials for ignoring the presidential security service’s request to provide additional forces to block the detention attempt. The lawyers said they also plan to file complaints against some 150 anti-corruption and police investigators who were involved in Friday’s detention attempt.

The anti-corruption agency, which leads a joint investigation with police and military investigators, has been weighing charges of rebellion after Yoon declared martial law and dispatched troops to surround the National Assembly. Lawmakers who managed to get past the blockade voted to lift martial law hours later.

Yoon’s presidential powers were suspended after the opposition-dominated National Assembly voted to impeach him on Dec. 14, accusing him of rebellion, and his fate now lies with the Constitutional Court, which has begun deliberations on whether to formally remove Yoon from office or reinstate him.

Dozens of anti-corruption agency investigators and assisting police officers attempted to detain Yoon on Friday but retreated from his residence in Seoul after a tense standoff with the presidential security service that lasted more than five hours.

After getting around a military unit guarding the residence’s grounds, the agency’s investigators and police were able to approach within 200 meters (about 218 yards) of Yoon’s residential building but were stopped by a barricade comprising around 10 vehicles and approximately 200 members of the presidential security forces and troops. The agency said it wasn’t able to visually confirm whether Yoon was inside the residence.

The agency has urged the country’s acting leader, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, to instruct the presidential security service to comply with their execution of the detainment warrant. Choi has yet to publicly comment on the issue.

In a video message on Sunday, Park Jong-joon, chief of the presidential security service, hit back against criticism that his organization has become Yoon’s private army, saying it has legal obligations to protect the incumbent president. Park said he instructed his members to not use violence during Friday’s standoff and called for the anti-corruption agency and police to change their approach.

Park and his deputy defied summonses on Saturday from police, who planned to question them over the suspected obstruction of official duty following Friday’s events. Staff from the presidential security service were seen installing barbed wire near the gate and along the hills leading up to Yoon’s residence over the weekend, possibly in preparation for another detention attempt.

Yoon’s lawyers argued the detention and search warrants against the president cannot be enforced at his residence due to a law that protects locations potentially linked to military secrets from search without the consent of the person in charge — which would be Yoon. They also argue the anti-corruption office lacks the legal authority to investigate rebellion charges.

Hundreds of South Koreans rallied near Yoon’s residence for hours into early Monday, wrapping themselves in silver-coated mats against the freezing temperatures. It was their second consecutive night of protests, with demonstrators calling for his ouster and arrest.