His guards at a Seoul detention center prevented former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun from taking his own life. Kim was formally arrested earlier this week as the first person involved in President Yoon Suk-yeol’s failed coup. He is said to have given Yoon the idea to declare a military state of emergency and was responsible for the deployment of about three hundred soldiers to prevent parliament from overturning that decision. Two senior police officials were also arrested on Wednesday due to the police deployment at parliament.
More and more details are emerging about last week’s events. Lieutenant General Kwak Jong-keunwho commanded the military at parliament last week, stated in a hearing on Tuesday that Yoon had called him to order him to direct parliamentarians to drag him out of the meeting room. According to another soldier, Yoon since the summer have suggested several times that a state of emergency be declared. Kwak said he was aware of the plan at least two days before Yoon’s speech on December 3.
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North Korea
An opposition lawmaker even said on Tuesday that he had evidence that Kim Yong-hyun had made plans to… military confrontation with North Korea to justify a state of emergency, for example by attacking a launch site for the waste balloons that North Korea has been regularly sending south for months. An unmanned drone that flew over the North Korean capital Pyongyang this fall was also said to have been ordered by Kim. Yoon justified the declaration of a state of emergency last week, among other things, with the alleged threat of “anti-state” and “pro-North Korean forces”.
The arrest of Defense Minister Kim implies that the president himself could also be arrested quickly, write South Korean media. The arrest warrant against Kim states that he is suspected of “conspiring with Yoon in a rebellion against the constitution.” Rebellion is one of the few offenses under South Korean law to which presidential immunity does not apply. If Yoon is convicted as the leader of that rebellion, he could face life in prison or even the death penalty.
On Wednesday, the police raided Yoon’s office, among other things, to collect evidence, but Yoon’s security guards prevented that the inspectors searched his workrooms. Yoon was formally identified as a suspect on Monday. Justice has imposed a travel ban on him.
Political paralysis
Meanwhile, political paralysis in South Korea continues. After Yoon’s conservative People Power Party sabotaged a vote on his impeachment on Saturday, PPP leader Han Dong-hoon said he had made an agreement with the president about his early resignation. Until then, Yoon would no longer interfere in state affairs. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo would take over his duties for the time being.
This transfer of power, for which the legal basis is unclear, received much criticism from the opposition, which calls it “a second coup attempt” by the PPP. The Ministry of Defense also confirmed that Yoon is still formally commander-in-chief of the armed forces, which number more than 500,000 active soldiers.
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Han Dong-hoon himself also seemed to reconsider the controversial construction on Tuesday. “In reality, there is no way around it [Yoons] to simply transfer power,” he acknowledged opposite news channel MBC.
New sales attempt
The opposition wants parliament to vote again on Yoon’s impeachment this weekend. This requires a two-thirds majority in the three hundred-seat National Assembly, so that at least eight of the 108 PPP parliamentarians must support the motion. In recent days, several PPP members have announced that they will vote in favor, although it is still unclear whether there will be enough for a successful removal attempt.
More than a week after Yoon’s coup attempt, the North Korean state press paid attention to the events for the first time on Wednesday. In one long article state news agency KCNA describes how “the puppet Yoon” has “turned the weapons of the fascist dictatorship on the people.” The piece describes the protests in Seoul, but nowhere mentions Yoon’s claim that “pro-North Korean forces” have threatened the country.