SEOUL: South Korea’s previous defense minister was stopped from attempting suicide while in detention over last week's martial law, officials said, as police were reported to be raiding President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office Wednesday in their intensifying investigation.
The main liberal opposition Democratic Party also plans to submit a new motion to impeach Yoon for his Dec. 3 declaration that imposed martial law.
Yoon’s ill-conceived power grab has paralyzed South Korean politics, frozen its foreign policy, and rattled financial markets, greatly reducing his chances of completing his five-year term and casting a turbulent shadow over one of Asia’s most robust democracies.
Shin Yong Hae, commissioner general of of the Korea Correctional Service, told lawmakers Wednesday that Kim tried to kill himself at a detention center in Seoul. He said that Kim's suicide attempt failed after center officials stopped him and that he is in a stable condition now.
At the same parliament committee meeting, Justice Minister Park Sung Jae confirmed Kim's failed suicide attempt.
Kim was arrested earlier Wednesday after a Seoul court approved a warrant for him on allegations of playing a key role in a rebellion and committing abuse of power. Kim became the first person formally arrested over the Dec. 3 martial law decree.
Later in the day, National Police Agency Commissioner General Cho Ji Ho and Kim Bong-sik, head of the metropolitan police agency of the capital, Seoul, were detained over their actions during martial law. They are being investigated for their roles in deploying police forces to the National Assembly to block lawmakers from voting to lift Yoon’s martial law decree.
South Korean police also searched Yoon's office Wednesday over his martial law decree, Yonhap news agency reported. Other South Korean media also carried similar reports. but Yoon's office and police have not immediately confirmed the search.
The country’s main law enforcement institutions are focusing on finding whether Yoon and others involved in imposing martial law committed the crime of rebellion.
Yoon survived an impeachment attempt last Saturday when the ruling party boycotted the vote, but the Democratic Party is aiming to put the new motion to a vote on Saturday.