On Friday, December 6, South Koreaʼs police and prosecutors set up separate investigative teams to look into allegations related to martial law, which the president briefly declared in the country on the night of December 4.
This is reported by Yonhap.
Police said they had set up a special investigation team of about 120 officers to look into complaints against South Korean President Yoon Seok Yeol and other politicians. They are accused of treason, sedition and abuse of power.
Prosecutors said they had also formed a special investigative staff led by the head of the Seoul Supreme Prosecutorʼs Office to look into similar complaints.
What preceded
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 governmentʼs budget proposal and decided to impeach the state auditor and the chief prosecutor.
An hour later, South Koreaʼs parliament passed a resolution calling for martial law to be lifted. 190 MPs out of 190 who took part in the vote spoke in favour of the decision. In total, South Korea has 300 MPs, but only 190 of them were able to get into the parliament building, despite being surrounded by soldiers storming the National Assembly building.
After that, the South Korean government supported the "plan to lift martial law" demanded by the parliament. The office of the countryʼs prime minister reported that the proposal was approved at 04:30 local time. Martial law lasted for about six hours.
When the parliamentarians adopted the resolution, people sang the national anthem and applauded in the streets. According to preliminary estimates, four thousand citizens gathered near the parliament building. Korean trade union flags could be seen in the crowd. The head of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Yang Kyung Soo took to the podium and announced an indefinite general strike until President Yoon Seok Yeol resigns.
The leader of the opposition Democratic Party Park Chan Dae said that the president of South Korea will not be able to avoid accusations of treason and should "immediately resign".
The opposition of South Korea submitted a draft law on the impeachment of the president.
Already on December 4, South Koreaʼs Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun resigned amid the decision to introduce martial law, took the blame for this decision and asked for forgiveness from the citizens for his own actions.
Yoon Seok Yeol accepted his resignation and appointed Choi Byung Hek as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
- President Yoon Seok Yeol has low approval ratings in the country, particularly due to rising food and housing prices, labour conflicts and a sharp drop in the birth rate. The presidentʼs reputation has also been under fire over a hidden camera video of First Lady Kim Keon Hee allegedly accepting a $2 200 Dior bag as a gift.
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