Seoul:
Kim Yong-hyun, the former South Korean Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun accused of playing a lead role in the failed imposition of martial law on December 3, tried to commit suicide shortly before he was formally arrested. The defence minister, who resigned last Thursday, had been detained since Sunday. He was formally arrested on Tuesday.
During a parliamentary hearing, the commissioner general of the Korea Correctional Service said that Mr Kim tried to kill himself minutes before his arrest was announced.
“Former Minister of Defence Kim Yong-hyun attempted suicide at the Seoul Dongbu Detention Center” shortly before midnight, an AFP report quoted Shin Yong-hae as saying.
As per the official, Mr Kim had tried to kill himself in the toilet using a string from his clothing.
A Reuters report said the ex-defence minister used underwear to commit suicide, adding that he was under observation and his life was not currently in danger.
The former defence minister is being investigated on insurrection charges related to President Yoon Suk Yeol’s brief declaration of martial law. He has now been arrested on charges including “engaging in critical duties during an insurrection” and “abuse of authority to obstruct the exercise of rights”, according to a report by AFP.
As per the report, Kim’s formal arrest came amid concerns that evidence might be destroyed. It was determined that the former minister’s alleged offences “fall within the scope of crimes for which the prosecution can initiate an investigation,” a court spokesperson said early Wednesday.
Mr Kim was contrite Tuesday, saying through his lawyers that “all responsibility for this situation lies solely with me”. He also “deeply apologised” to the South Korean people, saying that his subordinates were “merely following my orders and fulfilling their assigned duties”.
Martial Law in South Korea
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol suspended civilian rule a week ago and sent special forces and helicopters to parliament, before lawmakers forced him to rescind the decree in a country assumed to be a stable democracy. The brief declaration of martial law plunged Asia’s fourth-largest economy and a major U.S. ally into a constitutional crisis.
Earlier Tuesday, Army Special Warfare Command chief Kwak Jong-geun told lawmakers that Yoon had ordered him to stop enough MPs from gathering at parliament to vote down the martial law decree.
On Wednesday, in a dramatic escalation of the probe against Mr Yoon, South Korean police said they raided the President’s office. Mr Yoon is already under a travel ban as part of an “insurrection” probe into his inner circle after his short-lived suspension of civilian rule on December 3.
The President has not been seen in public since apologising on Saturday for trying to impose martial law.
Apart from the former Defence Minister, two top police officials were also taken into custody in the early hours of Wednesday, as the investigation into the political turmoil caused by the martial law declaration gathered pace.
Meanwhile, the leadership crisis deepened with questions over who is running the country and the main opposition party planning to hold a second impeachment vote in parliament on Saturday. Some members of the president’s People Power Party (PPP) have also spoken out in favour of the motion, which failed in the first vote on December 7.
