South Korea’s martial-law chaos deepens, with a suicide attempt and raids
Summary
- North Korea, in first public response to last week’s events, lambasted its southern neighbor as a ‘fascist dictatorship’
South Korea’s martial-law crisis widened as the imprisoned former defense minister attempted suicide, investigators said they would seek to arrest President Yoon Suk Yeol and police attempted to raid the presidential office.
North Korea broke its silence on the matter, calling it a “shocking incident of the puppet Yoon Suk Yeol regime" where “guns and knives of its fascist dictatorship wrought havoc across South Korea," according to a Wednesday state media report.
On Tuesday at 11:52 p.m., Kim Yong-hyun, the country’s recently resigned defense minister, tried to hang himself at the detention facility where he is being held on insurrection and other charges tied to the martial-law order, according to South Korea’s justice ministry. Seoul’s military has said Kim proposed to Yoon the idea of instituting emergency powers, which sought to curtail political activity, the media and health services.
Kim—the first major official to be detained over the martial-law move—has been behind bars since Sunday , after he voluntarily went in for questioning. He tried to take his life inside the bathroom of his cell by making a makeshift rope by tying together his undershirt and thermal pants, the justice ministry said.
Authorities immediately intervened and stopped the attempt. Kim’s condition is stable, and he is back in detention, just outside Seoul, the justice ministry said.
More than a week ago, South Korea fell under martial law for about six hours. Yoon, in a stunning address announcing the move, claimed the nation had become vulnerable to North Korean “communist forces," owing to the “den of criminals" blocking legislation, impeaching his administration’s officials and paralyzing the state.
The conservative Yoon survived a Saturday impeachment attempt, with all but a handful of ruling-party lawmakers boycotting the vote . The opposition is about eight votes shy of a two-thirds majority needed at South Korea’s unicameral, 300-seat legislature—though several additional conservatives have recently signaled they could move to impeach Yoon. A second impeachment vote is expected Saturday.
The legal scrutiny over Yoon and his cabinet over last week’s martial-law decree has accelerated. Investigators vowed to arrest—or seek to detain—the 63-year-old Yoon. Oh Dong-woon, who heads a South Korean unit dedicated to probes of high-ranking officials, pledged in a parliamentary committee meeting to take “every measure that we can." Later, Yoon was hit with a travel ban.
In a televised address Thursday morning, Yoon, who is the former prosecutor general, argued that his martial-law decree isn’t subject to legal judgment, because it was an act of governing. He vowed to fight until the end.
The South Korean leader is under investigation for a variety of charges, including insurrection—one of the few crimes not covered by presidential immunity. On Wednesday, police sought to raid the presidential office, though they were blocked for several hours by Yoon’s security team. Other police headquarters were searched, including the National Police Agency and the parliamentary guards.
His popularity sank to 13% after his martial-law decree, according to polling. Yoon, a political neophyte, is about at the halfway point of a five-year term set to end in 2027. He won a narrow election that revealed partisan divides in South Korea that haven’t gone away.
Yoon’s ruling People Power Party, whose popularity has plummeted, is seeking to stall the president’s removal, since it has slim chances of winning a snap election right now. Yoon’s resignation would trigger a presidential vote within 60 days, and the head of the opposition Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, is the runaway front-runner . But Lee has several ongoing trials, from allegations of perjury to breach of duty, and if convicted would be barred from running
The delay tactics are a gamble for the conservatives. More than 90% of South Koreans want to see Yoon gone soon, through impeachment, resignation or an “orderly retreat" proposed by the ruling party, according to a poll released Thursday. Candlelight protests have unfolded nationwide, including roughly 100,000 who rallied in front of the National Assembly during Saturday’s impeachment vote.
The tumult has brought chaos and concern to South Korea, a top U.S. ally, Asia’s fourth-largest economy and a global cultural powerhouse. Officials had to clarify earlier this week that Yoon is still legally commander in chief, even though his ruling party and the prime minister have said the South Korean leader would be sidelined until departing from his role.
The head of the ruling party on Thursday said Yoon won’t be resigning, so the only way to remove the South Korean leader is through impeachment. He urged conservative lawmakers to vote their conscience this weekend.
Write to Timothy W. Martin at Timothy.Martin@wsj.com and Jiyoung Sohn at jiyoung.sohn@wsj.com
