South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is temporarily saved, although he is not allowed to leave the country. Its former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun was arrested for his role in the proclamation of the short-lived martial law which plunged his country into chaos.
The former minister was “arrested and detained” by the team of investigators specially appointed to shed light on Yoon Suk Yeol’s coup on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, says the national Yonhap agency.
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Kim Yong-hyun was “identified as one of the main architects” of martial law, adds Yonhap, which specifies that his cell phone was “confiscated”.
According to the agency, Kim Yong-hyun presented himself to authorities at 4:30 p.m. and his arrest was decided after six hours of interrogation.
He had already resigned after the short-lived state of exception declared late Tuesday to everyone’s surprise by President Yoon Suk Yeol, who had to repeal martial law six hours later under pressure from Parliament and the street.
Resignation of the Minister of the Interior
The former minister was also banned from leaving the country. The police also announced the opening of an investigation against Yoon Suk Yeol for “rebellion”.
The public prosecutor was not immediately available to react to this arrest also reported by other South Korean media.
Furthermore, the Minister of the Interior also resigned. In his resignation letter, Lee Sang-min spoke of his “responsibility for not having served the people or the president well”, according to the daily JoongAng Ilbo.
Voting boycotted
On Saturday around 1:30 p.m., President Yoon Suk Yeol survived an impeachment motion filed against him and put to a vote by Parliament. However, he does not have the right to leave the country, the Justice Ministry decided.
His party boycotted the vote and made it invalid, due to lack of a necessary quorum of 200 deputies. Only 195 of them participated.
Shortly after, Yoon Suk Yeol’s People Power Party (PPP) explained that it had blocked the motion in order to avoid “serious rift and chaos”, saying it would “resolve the crisis in a more orderly and responsible.
Effective resignation
The PPP leader certified that the party had “obtained” from Yoon Suk Yeol the promise that he would step down and that, until his effective resignation, he would be “largely excluded from his functions”, then held by the Prime Minister and the PPP.
The outcome of the vote disappointed the approximately 150,000 people, according to a police count, who gathered in front of Parliament to demand that Yoon Suk Yeol leave. The organizers claimed an attendance of one million demonstrators.
“The failure of the vote on this issue signifies the failure of the democratic process on a critical national issue. On behalf of the National Assembly, I apologize to the people,” declared the Speaker of Parliament where the opposition is in the majority.
Apology from the president
In the morning before the vote on Saturday, unpopular President Yoon Suk Yeol, 63, apologized for declaring martial law and leaving it to his party to decide the rest of his mandate.
“I will not shy away from my legal and political responsibilities regarding the declaration of martial law,” he added in a televised address.
He explained his coup by his “despair as president”, while Parliament largely dominated by the opposition torpedoed practically all his initiatives.
“I have caused anxiety and inconvenience to the public. I offer my sincere apologies,” he concluded before bowing to the viewers.
jfe/vajo with agencies
