Acting head of presidential security service detained in South Korea

South Korean police today detained the acting head of the presidential security service Kim Song Hoon accused of leading the actions that prevented the arrest of the countryʼs President Yoon Seok Yeol on January 3.

This is reported by Yonhap.

An arrest warrant was issued for Kim after he ignored three summonses for questioning. He was arrested as soon as he arrived for questioning at the National Bureau of Investigation headquarters in western Seoul.

Before he was taken into custody, Kim told reporters outside the police building that he had fulfilled his “legitimate security duties”.

He was appointed to the position of acting head of the presidential security service only a week ago.

What preceded

South Korean President Yoon Seok Yeol declared martial law in the country on the night of December 3-4 to “protect the constitutional order” — the first time since the 1980s. The reason was that the opposition Democratic Party of South Korea, which has a majority in parliament, rejected the government’s budget proposal and decided to impeach the state auditor and the attorney general.

In total, martial law lasted about six hours, but it caused a sharp internal crisis — now the president is being called to resign. On December 8, he was informed of suspicion of treason and abuse of power and banned from traveling abroad.

On December 14, the South Korean parliament supported a bill to impeach President Yoon Seok Yeol.

On January 15, President Yoon Seok Yeol was detained at a second attempt.

Yoon Seok Yeol has low approval ratings in the country, in particular due to rising food and housing prices, labor conflicts and a sharp decline in the birth rate. The presidentʼs reputation has also been under attack due to a hidden camera video showing First Lady Kim Geun Hee allegedly accepting a $2 200 Dior bag as a gift.

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