South Korea's former defense chief tried to commit suicide after his arrest

South Korea’s former defense chief tried to commit suicide after his arrest

Updated December 11, 2024 at 12:47 AM ET

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s previous defense minister was barred from attempting suicide while in custody under last week’s martial law, officials said, as police tried to search President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office Wednesday in their intensifying research.

The main liberal opposition party, the Democratic Party, also plans to file a new motion to impeach Yoon for his December 3 statement that imposed martial law in South Korea for the first time in more than four decades. The first impeachment attempt against Yoon last Saturday failed, with ruling party lawmakers boycotting a floor vote.

Yoon’s ill-conceived power grab has paralyzed South Korean politics, frozen foreign policy and roiled financial markets, significantly reducing his chances of completing his five-year term and casting a turbulent shadow over one of Asia’s most robust democracies.

Protesters are organizing a rally Monday to demand the ouster of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in front of the headquarters of the ruling People Power Party in Seoul, South Korea.

Shin Yong Hae, commissioner general of the Korea Correctional Service, told lawmakers on Wednesday that Kim tried to commit suicide the previous night at a detention center in Seoul. He said Kim’s suicide attempt failed after center officials stopped him and that he is now in stable condition.

At the same parliamentary committee meeting, Justice Minister Park Sung Jae confirmed Kim’s failed suicide attempt.

Kim was arrested early Wednesday after a Seoul court approved an arrest warrant for him on charges of playing a key role in an uprising and committing abuse of power. Kim became the first person to be formally arrested under the December 3 martial law decree.

Kim, one of Yoon’s closest associates, is accused of recommending martial law to Yoon and sending troops to the National Assembly to prevent lawmakers from voting on it. Enough lawmakers eventually managed to force their way into a parliament chamber and unanimously rejected Yoon’s decree, forcing the cabinet to withdraw it before dawn on December 4.

Prosecutors have 20 days to determine whether to charge Kim.

Later Wednesday, National Police Agency Commissioner General Cho Ji Ho and Kim Bong-sik, chief of the capital Seoul’s metropolitan police, were arrested for their actions during martial law, police said. They were accused of deploying police forces in the National Assembly to block lawmakers’ votes along with troops.

The country’s top law enforcement agencies are focusing on finding out whether Yoon, Kim and others involved in imposing martial law committed the crime of rebellion. A conviction on charges of rebellion carries the maximum penalty of death.

South Korean police said they sent officers on Wednesday to search Yoon’s office for evidence related to the imposition of martial law. Local media reported that the search was ongoing, but police and the presidential office could not immediately confirm the reports.

Some observers previously said the presidential security service was unlikely to allow searches of Yoon’s office, citing a law that bans searches of sites containing state secrets without permission from those in charge of those areas.

Yoon apologized for the martial law decree on Saturday and said he will not avoid legal or political responsibility for the declaration. He also said he would leave it to his party to chart a course through the political turmoil in the country, “including matters related to my term of office.”

In his martial law announcement, conservative Yoon stressed the need to rebuild the country by eliminating “shameless North Korean followers and anti-state forces,” a reference to his liberal rivals who control parliament. Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has had near-constant friction with the Democratic Party, which filed motions to oust some of its top officials and launched a political offensive following scandals involving Yoon and his wife.

Opposition parties and many experts say the martial law decree was unconstitutional. They say that by law a president may only declare martial law during “time of war, war-like situations or other similar national emergencies” and that South Korea was not in such a situation. They argue that deploying troops to seal the National Assembly and suspend its political activities amounts to rebellion, because South Korea’s constitution does not allow a president to use the military to suspend parliament in any situation.

At a parliamentary hearing Tuesday, Kwak Jong-keun, commander of the Army Special Warfare Command whose troops were sent to Parliament, testified that Yoon called him and asked the troops deployed to Parliament to “quickly destroy the door and to drag out legislators who have been brought in.” Kwak said he had not carried out Yoon’s order.

At the same hearing, senior officer Kim Dae-woo of the army’s counterintelligence department said his commander, Yeo In-hyung, asked him whether an army bunker in Seoul had space to hold politicians and other figures after martial law was declared. Yeo is considered a close associate of Kim Yong Hyun.

If Yoon is impeached, his presidential powers will be suspended until the Constitutional Court decides whether his powers should be restored or he should be removed from office. If he is removed from office, new presidential elections will be necessary.

Yoon’s conservative party leader vowed to arrange his stable departure from power, saying the party will coordinate state affairs with cabinet members and that Yoon will be sidelined during a transition to early elections.