South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol Placed on Travel Ban as Police Raid His Office Amid Martial Law Probe
South Korean Police Raid President Yoon Suk Yeol’s Office Amid Martial Law Probe
South Korean police raided President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office on Wednesday as part of an ongoing investigation into his declaration of martial law. The deeply unpopular Yoon is already under a travel ban as part of an “insurrection” probe into his inner circle.
The raid comes amid a tumultuous period in South Korean politics. Prison authorities reported that the country’s former defense minister, Kim Yong-hyun, attempted suicide shortly before his formal arrest over the events of December 3. The extraordinary drama saw troops and helicopters sent to parliament in an apparent—but failed—attempt to prevent lawmakers from voting down Yoon’s martial law declaration.
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A special investigation unit of South Korea’s police raided the presidential office, the National Police Agency, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, and the National Assembly Security Service. Former defense minister Kim Yong-hyun, who was first detained on Sunday, tried to kill himself shortly before midnight on Tuesday while in custody. Authorities confirmed that he is in good health.
Kim was arrested on charges of “engaging in critical duties during an insurrection” and “abuse of authority to obstruct the exercise of rights.” He stated through his lawyers that “all responsibility for this situation lies solely with me” and that subordinates were “merely following my orders and fulfilling their assigned duties.” Kim, along with the former interior minister and the general in charge of the martial law operation, had already been slapped with a travel ban.
North Korean state media commented on the situation, describing it as “chaos” in the South. Yoon had declared martial law to safeguard South Korea “from the threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces and eliminate anti-state elements plundering people’s freedom and happiness.”
Relations between the two Koreas have been at one of their lowest points in years, with the North launching a flurry of ballistic missiles in violation of UN sanctions.
Former defense minister Kim had been accused by opposition lawmakers of calling for strikes on sites from which North Korea was launching trash-carrying balloons, an order reportedly refused by his subordinates.
He also allegedly ordered drones sent to the North Korean capital of Pyongyang in an apparent attempt to provoke a conflict as a pretext for declaring martial law.
Yoon survived an impeachment motion in parliament on Saturday even as tens of thousands of South Koreans braved freezing temperatures to demand his ouster. Further smaller protests have continued every evening since, with polls showing record-low public support for Yoon.
A special task force within Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) proposed a plan for the president to resign in February or March, followed by fresh elections in April or May.
However, the proposal has not yet been adopted by the party as a whole. Even if approved, the roadmap is unlikely to head off another opposition attempt to impeach Yoon on Saturday.
The motion only needs eight members of Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) to secure the necessary two-thirds majority. Last week, two PPP lawmakers—Ahn Cheol-soo and Kim Yea-ji—voted in favour, and two more said Tuesday they would support the motion this time.
