South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (right)
The former South Korean Defense Minister was detained this Sunday for his role in the attempted imposition of martial law that plunged the country into a week of chaos.
The special investigation unit of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, assigned to the martial law case, announced the detention of former minister and the seizure of the phone, after Kim Yong-hyun had expressed, hours earlier to the media, his willingness to cooperate with the South Korean authorities.
Kim Yong-hyun had already submitted his resignation, following the brief state of exception declared on Tuesday night by the South Korean president, Yoon Suk-yeolwho six hours later was forced to retreat due to the response from parliament and the population.
The South Korean president on Tuesday declared Martial Law in South Korea for “North Korea”, a decision that sparked widespread protests and led more than a million people to take to the streets to call for the head of state to step down.
Kim Yong-hyun was prevented from leaving the country and Yoon Suk-yeol is the target of a police investigation for rebellion.
At 9:30 pm this Saturday, the President, presented by the opposition parties and voted on in parliament, due to the boycott of the ruling party, the Popular Power Party, which did not participate in the vote.
Shortly afterwards, the PPP explained that it had blocked the motion to avoid “a serious rupture and chaos”, guaranteeing that “it will resolve the crisis in a more orderly and responsible way”.
PPP leader Han Dong-hoon highlighted that the party got the South Korean President’s promise that you will withdraw and, until the dismissal is effective, Yoon will be “excluded from most presidential functionsguaranteed by the prime minister and the PPP.
South Korea’s main opposition party has meanwhile announced that it will try again, on December 14, to remove President Yoon Suk Yeo.
“Yoon Suk-yeol, the main culprit behind the rebellion and military coup that destroyed South Korea’s constitutional order, must resign immediately or be impeached without delay. On December 14, our Democratic Party will impeach Yoon, in the name of the people,” said the opposition leader, Lee Jae-myung.
Martial law is a temporary regime decreed by military authorities in a time of emergency, when civil authorities are considered unable to function. Theoretically, it is a temporary measure, but it has implications for civil liberties.
Martial law concerns the suspension of civil lawrestricting citizens’ rights and giving more power to the Armed Forces, so that they can guarantee security and face an aggressor.
It was the first time since 1980 that martial law was declared in South Korea, the decade in which the country’s government became democratic.
