By Hyonhee Shin and Ju-min Park SEOUL (Reuters) -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,

The case, involving an inquiry into a marine’s death, had stoked political tensions long before President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment last month.

For weeks, impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol has remained in his compound and refused to respond to detention and search warrants.

Thousands of South Korean citizens were gathering on Sunday near impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol’s residence a day before an arrest warrant for him expires.

Yoon Kab-keun, one of the lawyers representing South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, said on Thursday that Yoon was staying in his official residence. The lawyer made the comment in a briefing to reporters following recent speculation over the suspended president's whereabouts.

Hundreds of supporters gathered once again outside the president's official residence, pledging to protect him from South Korea's national anti-corruption agency.

South Korean opposition parties introduced a bill Thursday calling for an independent investigation into impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol’s brief martial law declaration.

South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol faces a new and potentially more robust attempt to arrest him for insurrection after a top investigator vowed to do whatever it takes to break a security blockade and take in the embattled leader.

Lawyers for impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol denounced efforts to detain him over his short-lived imposition of martial law, while the country’s acting leader expressed concern Wednesday over a possible clash between law enforcement agents and presidential security personnel.