Former South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun He was formally arrested this Tuesday, accused of conspiring with the president Yoon Suk Yeol to impose martial law last week, as authorities investigate whether their actions can be considered rebellion.
The Dec. 3 martial law lasted only about six hours, but it was the first of its kind in more than 40 years and has caused a national uproar and large street protests. Yoon and his associates face criminal investigations and impeachment attempts. The Ministry of Justice has banned Yoon and eight others from leaving the country as authorities consider them key suspects in the martial law case. It is the first time such a travel ban has been imposed on a sitting president in South Korea.
The Seoul Central District Court said Tuesday that it authorized prosecutors’ request to issue a arrest warrant against Kim, who has been accused of recommending martial law to Yoon and sending troops to the National Assembly to prevent lawmakers from voting on the measure. In the end, enough lawmakers managed to enter one chamber of Parliament to unanimously reject Yoon’s decree, forcing the government to lift it before dawn on December 4.
Kim issued a statement Tuesday saying he “deeply apologizes for causing significant anxiety and inconvenience.” He stated that all responsibility for the application of martial law lies solely with him and He asked for clemency for soldiers deployed to enforce martial lawarguing that they were just following orders.
The Minister of Defense has been detained since Sunday. He is the first person arrested in connection with the martial law case. Prosecutors have up to 20 days to investigate Kim and determine whether he should stand trial. A conviction on the charge of rebellion could carry up to the death penalty.
Prosecutors reportedly accuse Kim of playing a key role in a rebellion and of abuse of power by organizing a riot to violate the Constitution in collaboration with Yoon and other military and police officials.
Meanwhile, Parliament — which is controlled by the opposition — approved a bill on Tuesday to appoint an independent special prosecutor to investigate Yoon and several military commanders over the imposition of martial law. The main opposition Democratic Party had advocated for a special counsel investigation, arguing that public prosecutors cannot be trusted to conduct a thorough investigation into Yoon, a former attorney general.
During a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday, Kwak Jong-keun, commander of the Army Special Warfare Command whose troops were sent to Parliament, testified that he received direct instructions from Kim to block lawmakers from entering the main chamber of the National Assembly. . Kwak said the purpose of Kim’s instructions was to prevent the assembly from gathering the 150 votes needed to overturn Yoon’s martial law order.
Kwak said that later Yoon called him directly and told him He asked troops to “quickly destroy the door and drag out the legislators inside.” Kwak said he discussed Yoon’s order with the commander at the scene and they concluded there was nothing that could be done, ruling out the possibility of threatening lawmakers by firing blanks or turning off the electricity.
At the same session, officer Kim Dae-woo of the military counterintelligence agency said that his commander, Yeo In-hyung, told him He asked if an Army bunker in Seoul had space to detain politicians and other figures after martial law was imposed. Yeo is considered a close collaborator of Kim. Last week, Hong Jang-won, first deputy director of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, said Yoon ordered him to help Yeo’s commando arrest some of his political rivals, but he ignored the president’s order.
Kwak and Yeo are among those the opposition has accused of rebellion along with Yoon and Kim, and the Defense Ministry suspended them last week.
Opposition parties and many experts say the martial law decree was unconstitutional. They claim that a president is only legally authorized to declare martial law during “times of war, war-like situations, or other comparable states of national emergency,” but South Korea was in no such situation. They argue that deploying troops to seal the National Assembly and suspend its political activities was tantamount to rebellion because South Korea’s Constitution does not allow a president to use the military to suspend Parliament in any situation.
In his martial law announcement, conservative Yoon emphasized the need to rebuild the country by eliminating “blatant followers of North Korea and anti-state forces,” a reference to his progressive rivals, who control Parliament. Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has clashed almost constantly with the main opposition party, the Democratic Party, which has filed motions to dismiss some of its top officials and launched a fierce political offensive against Yoon for a series of scandals involving him and his wife.
Attention now turns to how authorities could investigate Yoon and whether they could arrest him.
South Korean law grants the president immunity from prosecution while in office, except for charges of rebellion or treason. This means Yoon may be questioned and detained by investigative agencies over his martial law decree, but many observers doubt authorities will forcibly detain him due to the potential for clashes with his presidential security service. They also say that the security service will probably not allow searches at Yoon’s office, citing a law that prohibits searches in sites with state secrets without the approval of those in charge of those areas.
In the case of the former president Park Geun-hye, who was removed from office in 2017 after being disqualified by Parliament over a corruption scandal, prosecutors were unable to search her office and ended up receiving documents outside the complex because presidential officials denied them access. After refusing to meet with prosecutors while in office, Park was questioned by them and arrested after the Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment outcome and ruled her removed as president in March 2017.
Yoon avoided impeachment on Saturday after most ruling party lawmakers boycotted a floor vote. The Democratic Party said it would prepare a new impeachment of Yoon on Saturday. The party on Tuesday filed motions to also dismiss Yoon’s police chief and the justice minister. He attempted to dismiss Kim and the security minister, but both resigned before parliamentary votes were held.
If Yoon loses the no-confidence motion, his presidential powers would be suspended until the Constitutional Court decides whether to restore his powers or confirm his dismissal. If he were to vote to remove him from office, a new presidential election would be required.
By Hyung-Jin Kim and Kim Tong-Hyung (AP)
