South Korean prosecutors yesterday detained a former defense minister who allegedly recommended last week’s brief but stunning martial law imposition to South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, making him the first figure detained over the case.
The development came a day after Yoon avoided an opposition-led bid to impeach him in parliament, with most ruling party lawmakers boycotting a floor vote to prevent the two-thirds majority needed to suspend his presidential powers.
The main opposition Democratic Party said it would prepare a new impeachment motion against Yoon.
Photo: AFP
Yesterday, former South Korean Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun was taken into custody at a Seoul detention facility after undergoing an investigation by prosecutors, a law enforcement official said, requesting anonymity in line with privacy rules.
The official gave no further details, but South Korean media reported that Kim voluntarily appeared at a Seoul prosecutors’ office, where he had his cellphone confiscated and was detained. The reports said police searched Kim’s former office and residence yesterday.
Repeated calls to Seoul prosecutors’ offices and police agency were unanswered.
Senior prosecutor Park Se-hyun in a televised statement yesterday said that authorities launched a 62-member special investigation team on the martial law case. Park, who would head the team, said the probe would “leave no suspicions.”
Yoon accepted Kim’s resignation offer on Thursday after opposition parties submitted a separate impeachment motion against him.
In Kim’s impeachment motion document, the Democratic Party and other opposition parties accused him of proposing martial law to Yoon.
South Korean Vice-Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho told parliament that Kim ordered the deployment of troops to the National Assembly.
IMPEACHEMENT TRIAL
Ruling People Power Party (PPP) leader Han Dong-hun yesterday said the PPP would work with the government to determine Yoon’s early and orderly exit from office in a way that minimizes confusion, but he did not say when that would happen.
He also said Yoon would not be involved in state affairs, including foreign policy.
The Democratic Party criticized Han Dong-hun’s comments, saying that the exclusion of an incumbent president from state affairs is not supported by the constitution.
It said authorities should immediately arrest Yoon and all others implicated in the case.
Yoon’s presidential office did not immediately respond to Han’s comments.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, yesterday said that they will try again on Saturday.
“Yoon, the principal culprit behind the insurrection and military coup that destroyed South Korea’s constitutional order, must either resign immediately or be impeached without delay,” Lee said.
“On December 14, our Democratic Party will impeach Yoon in the name of the people,” he added.
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