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from South Korea The former defense minister was prevented from trying to kill himself while in custody last week martial law statement, officials said Wednesday, while President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office resisted a police attempt to search the compound.
The main liberal opposition Democratic Party is pushing a new motion to impeach Yoon over his Dec. 3 decree that imposed martial law on South Korea for the first time in more than four decades.
His first impeachment attempt against Yoon last Saturday failed after ruling party lawmakers boycotted the vote. The party said it plans to introduce the new motion on Thursday to set up a vote on Saturday.
Yoon’s ill-conceived takeover has paralyzed South Korean politics, frozen its foreign policy and roiled financial markets. North Korea’s rival state media first reported unrest across the border on Wednesday, but the country has shown no suspicious activity.
Shin Yong Hae, commissioner general of the Korean Correctional Service, told lawmakers that former Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun tried to kill himself the night before at a detention center in Seoul. He said he was stopped by correctional officers and was in stable condition.
Kim was arrested by prosecutors early Wednesday on charges of playing a key role in a rebellion and abusing power. He became the first person formally arrested under martial law decree.
Kim, one of Yoon’s close aides, has been accused of recommending martial law to Yoon and sending troops to the National Assembly to prevent lawmakers from voting on it. Enough lawmakers eventually managed to enter a chamber of parliament and unanimously rejected Yoon’s decree, forcing the cabinet to lift it before the December 4 deadline.
Kim said in a statement Tuesday that he “deeply apologizes for causing significant anxiety” to the public. He said the full responsibility for the imposition of martial law rests with him and called for leniency for the soldiers deployed to enforce it.
Prosecutors have up to 20 days to determine whether to charge Kim.
Yoon’s office blocks the search of the presidential compound
Later on Wednesday, police arrested National Police Agency Commissioner-General Cho Ji Ho and Kim Bong-sik, chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police. They were accused of deploying police forces to parliament to prevent lawmakers from voting.
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The main purpose of the investigation is to find out whether Yoon, Kim and others involved in the imposition of martial law committed rebellion. A conviction for rebellion carries a maximum penalty of death.
South Korean police said on Wednesday they sent officers to search Yoon’s office for evidence related to the introduction of martial law. But investigators were unable to enter the office on Wednesday evening, about six hours after their arrival, senior police officer Lee Ho-young told parliament.
Some observers previously said the presidential security service was unlikely to allow searches of Yoon’s office, citing a law that prohibits searches of places with state secrets without the approval of those in charge of those areas.
Yoon on Saturday apologized for the martial law decree, saying he will not avoid legal or political responsibility for it. He said he would leave it to his party to chart a path through the country’s political turmoil, “including issues related to my mandate.”
The leader of Yoon’s ruling party later vowed to arrange for the president’s stable exit from office, saying the party will coordinate with cabinet members on state affairs and that Yoon will stay away from duties.
The comments were criticized as unrealistic and unconstitutional, and raised widespread questions about who is in charge of South Korea and its military at a time of heightened tensions with North Korea. The Ministry of Justice on Tuesday banned Yoon from leaving the country while he faces investigations.
Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon Ho reiterated on Wednesday that Yoon remains in charge of the military. But Yoon has not taken part in any major official activities since lifting martial law, except for accepting resignation offers from officials involved in the martial law case and appointing the head of the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
An article on Wednesday by the North’s state news agency reported on the political chaos and protests in South Korea sparked by Yoon’s martial law decree. The report mainly tried to explain the events in South Korea, although it called Yoon “a traitor” and his military “gangsters”.
Many experts say North Korea is sensitive to domestic news coverage of major anti-government protests in foreign countries, because its own people have no official access to international news and could be affected by such events. The US State Department said on Monday that the US-South Korea alliance remains “iron-clad” and that Washington is committed to the peace and security of the Korean Peninsula.
In his martial law announcement, conservative Yoon stressed the need to rebuild the country by eliminating “shameless North Korean supporters and anti-state forces,” a reference to his liberal rivals who control parliament. Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has been at near-constant friction with the Democratic Party, which has filed motions to impeach some of its top officials and launched a political offensive over scandals involving Yoon and his wife.
Opposition parties and many experts say the martial law decree was unconstitutional. They say that by law a president can only declare martial law in times of war or similar emergency situations, but South Korea was not in such a situation. They argue that the deployment of troops to seal off the National Assembly to suspend its political activities amounted to rebellion because the constitution does not allow a president to use the military to suspend parliament under any circumstances.
If Yoon is impeached, his presidential powers would be suspended until the Constitutional Court decides whether to restore his powers or remove him from office. If he is removed from office, a new presidential election would be necessary.
