South Korea’s ex-defence minister arrested over martial law

In the aftermath of the martial law debacle, South Korean media have reported that former defence minister Kim Yong-hyun has been arrested over his role in the matter.

According to AFP, which quoted the media reports, Kim (above) had already been slapped with a travel ban.

It also stated that police have launched an investigation into Yoon and others for alleged insurrection.

AFP said the prosecutor’s office was not immediately available for comment on Kim's arrest, reported by the Yonhap news agency and other local media outlets this morning.

Yesterday, a move to impeach South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was thwarted due to a lack of quorum in the country’s National Assembly.

The New York Times said this was due to Yoon’s People Power Party ordering its MPs to vacate the assembly hall before the impeachment vote started.

“The tactic has been used by political parties to prevent lawmakers from voting against the party line during anonymous balloting,” the report noted.

Yoon’s party reportedly said before the session that they would oppose the impeachment bid.

The opposition had moved to impeach Yoon after he declared martial law on Wednesday and deployed troops to shut down the National Assembly, after accusing the opposition of paralysing the government with “anti-state activities plotting rebellion”.

However, the order was lifted just six hours later after troops failed to enter the assembly and its MPs voted down Yoon’s emergency declaration.

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