Seoul [South Korea], December 8 : South Korea's former Defence Minister, Kim Yong-hyun, has been arrested on Sunday as prosecutors investigated his role in President Yoon Suk Yeol's decision last week to impose martial law, The New York Times reported.
Yoon's decision caused political upheavel in South Korea, including an opposition-led attempt to impeach South Korea President and protests. Kim is the first person to be arrested as prosecutors start their probe into allegations made by Yoon's political opponents.
The opposition has asserted that Yoon and his followers in the government and military conducted insurrection and other crimes when they sent soldiers and police personnel into the National Assembly to seize the legislature shortly after South Korea's President imposed martial law last week, according to The New York Times report.
Kim, who surrendered himself to investigators on Sunday, wads arrested without a court warrant. The police and prosecutors can use "emergency arrest" when they have grounds to suspect a person who committed a serious crime and there is risk of them fleeing the country or tampering wiht evidence. They need to apply for a court warrant within two days to formally arrest the suspect.
Kim Yong-hyun, who supported Yoon's martial law plan, resigned following the President's announcement. The military rule remained for only six hours after the National Assembly voted against it on Wednesday and forced Yoon to reverse it.
It was unclear whether South Korea's former Defence Minister had a lawyer. Speaking to a daily Dong-A Ilbo prior to his arrest, he said he had been involved in Yoon's decision of imposing martial law, but stressed that it was put in place according to legal procedures.
For most of the two and a half years he has been serving as South Korea's President, Yoon has faced low approval ratings and been in political standoff with the opposition. The opposition and Yoon have tussled particularly over his refusal to accept their demands that a special prosecutor be appointed to probe allegations of corruption involving his wife.
In a statement on Tuesday, Yoon announced that he was imposing martial law to rid the National Assembly of "shameless North Korean followers and anti-state forces." On Saturday, he apologised to the people of the nation for his "desperate" action, The New York Times reported.
Yoon Suk Yeol said he would leave it to his party, People Power Party (PPP), to decide how long he should remain in office and how the government should be run. After his announcement, PPP decided to boycott the impeachment vote. All except three of the 108 PPP lawmakers joined the boycott, saving Yoon from the impeachment.
On Friday, South Korea's Defence Ministry suspended three Army lieutenant generals from their jobs, as prosecutors conducted their investigation into their possible roles in Yoon's declaration of martial law, The New York Times reported.
One of them, Lt General Kwak Jong-geun, said Kim ordered him to send special forces troops into the National Assembly on Tuesday night. He said Kim directed him to remove lawmakers from the Assembly hall where they were gathering to vote against Yoon's military rule. However, he did not follow his order.
The Defense Ministry said it also asked the Justice Ministry to impose ban on three generals and seven other military officers from leaving the country. Yoon has not made any remarks publically since the impeachment effort failed. However, PPP leader Han Dong-hoon later announced that his party would push for Yoon's "early resignation."
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