SEOUL — South Korean police raided the office of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol as part of an ongoing investigation. declaration of martial law on December 3, Yonhap, South Korea’s state media reported on Wednesday.
South Korea’s National Police Agency’s National Investigation Headquarters Military Emergency Special Enforcement Team entered the “seizure and search” of the President’s office on Wednesday morning local time, Yonhap reported.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol answers a reporter’s question during a press conference at the Presidential Office in Seoul, Nov. 7, 2024.
Kim Hong-ji/Reuters
South Korean police also arrested South Korean National Police Commissioner Cho Ji Ho and Seoul Police Chief Kim Bong Sik on Wednesday morning as part of an investigation into the declaration of martial law.
The police action followed more than a week of political turmoil in South Korea following Yoon’s failed imposition of a police state, a move the president at the time deemed necessary to protect the nation from enemies within. Yoon, a member of the conservative People’s Power Party, walked back his statement a few hours later. The opposition parties then took him to the complaint Yoon, but members of parliament from his own party he refused to enter voting, leaving it in power.
Presidential Chief of Staff Jeong Jin Seok and several other staff resigned immediately after martial law was lifted. Soon after he accepted the resignation of Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, who was described as the architect of Yoon’s plan.
The former defense minister, who took full responsibility for the martial law declaration in a statement from his lawyer on Tuesday, became the first government official to be formally arrested over the series of incidents late Tuesday local time. He was arrested for engaging in essential activities during the rebellion and was arrested for abuse of power during the six hours of martial law.
People stand behind a guardrail as the Presidential Office Building is searched by police officers from the National Bureau of Investigation on December 11, 2024 in Seoul, South Korea.
Kim Hong-ji/Reuters
He tried to commit suicide while in the bathroom before the arrest warrant was issued, Shin Yong Hae, head of South Korea’s Justice Ministry’s correctional headquarters, told a public judicial commission hearing on Wednesday.
“Yesterday evening at around 11:52 p.m., one of our personnel witnessed a suicide attempt … before the order was issued,” Shin said. “He surrendered immediately when the staff opened the door. He is currently in a shelter and is reported to be in good health.”
The two arrested on Wednesday — South Korea’s national police commissioner and Seoul’s police chief — were arrested on charges of sedition, the South Korean police’s special investigation team said. They suspect that he ordered the police to block the members of the National Assembly who were there to reverse the martial law decree.
The arrests came just one day after the two were placed under a travel ban.
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