South Korea’s former PM, spy chief arrested over martial law declaration

Investigations and arrests proceed aft South Korean disgraced ex-President Yoon Suk-yeol’s failed bid to enforce martial law.

A erstwhile South Korean premier curate and the country’s one-time spy main person been arrested successful transportation with the short-lived imposition of martial instrumentality by former President Yoon Suk-yeol successful December 2024, section media report.

In abstracted arrests, erstwhile Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn was detained connected Wednesday connected charges of inciting an insurrection, and Cho Tae-yong, the erstwhile caput of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), was taken into custody for respective violations of NIS law, including dereliction of duty, South Korea’s Yonhap quality bureau reports.

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According to Yonhap, Hwang posted connected Facebook pursuing the declaration of martial law, calling for the apprehension of the country’s National Assembly talker and for the eradication of those progressive successful alleged electoral fraud.

Former quality main Cho, erstwhile a adjacent confidant of disgraced President Yoon, is accused of knowing and failing to study plans for the imposition of martial instrumentality to the country’s National Assembly.

“The NIS Act obliges its manager to study to the National Assembly, arsenic good arsenic to the president, if a concern that has a important interaction connected nationalist information arises,” Yonhap reported.

Prosecutors said that Cho, a vocation diplomat, failed to study connected plans for martial law, contempt “understanding its illegality”. At a proceeding connected Tuesday, Cho denied each of the charges against him, Yonhap said.

Hwang and Cho’s arrests travel aft prosecutors connected Monday added different indictment against the erstwhile 64-year-old president Yoon, who was removed from bureau successful April, and is present detained portion awaiting proceedings for his failed effort to enforce martial law.

The latest indictment accuses the erstwhile president of attempting to provoke a subject struggle betwixt South Korea and North Korea by covertly sending drones into North Korea successful an effort to legitimise the authorities of martial instrumentality helium declared.

Prosecutors reason that the drone deployment implicit North Korea successful October 2024 led to the leak of subject secrets erstwhile 1 of the unmanned aerial vehicles crashed adjacent North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, Yonhap added.

State Prosecutor Park Ji-young told reporters that the peculiar counsel squad had “filed charges of benefitting the force successful wide and of maltreatment of power” against the erstwhile president.

Yoon’s determination to enforce martial instrumentality plunged South Korea into governmental situation aft equipped soldiers were sent to parliament successful a bid to halt lawmakers rallying against and outlawing his martial instrumentality bid. Yoon’s bid to prehend powerfulness failed, and helium was detained successful January, becoming South Korea’s archetypal sitting president to beryllium taken into custody.

Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon Hee, is besides successful custody and lasting proceedings connected corruption charges, including banal manipulation, marking the archetypal clip a erstwhile archetypal mates has been detained simultaneously.