South Korean police have raided the office of President Yun Suk-jeol, a security official said on Wednesday, in a widening investigation into his failed bid to impose a state of emergency.
Meanwhile, former defense minister and close confidant of Yun, Kim Jong-hyun, attempted suicide in the detention center where he is being held after his arrest, a justice ministry official told a parliamentary hearing.
A presidential security official confirmed to Reuters that police had raided Yun’s office. The National Police Agency declined to immediately confirm the search. The state-run news agency Yonhap said police investigators had produced a search warrant in which Yun was the subject.
The raid marks a dramatic escalation of the investigation into Yun and top police and military officials over the sudden declaration of a state of emergency on December 3 that plunged Asia’s fourth-largest economy and a key U.S. ally into a constitutional crisis.
Yun was not at the presidential office during the raid, Yonhap said. His official residence is located in a separate location. He has not been seen in public since apologizing on Saturday for attempting to declare a state of emergency.
Kim, a former defense minister, was found by guards attempting suicide in a detention center using his underwear, Shin Yong-hae, head of the Justice Ministry’s prison service, told a parliamentary committee on the judiciary.
He was under observation and his life was not currently in danger, Shin added. Kim resigned and was arrested on charges of sedition.
National Police Commissioner Cho Ji-ho is the latest high-ranking official to be arrested over the state of emergency, the state-run Yeonap news agency reported.
Sam Yun is now under criminal investigation on sedition charges and has been banned from leaving the country, but authorities have not arrested or questioned him.
The leadership crisis has deepened over questions about who is running the country and the main opposition party, which plans to hold a second impeachment vote in parliament on Saturday.
Some members of the president’s People’s Power Party (PPP) came out in favor of the proposal, which failed in the first vote on 7 December.
“The train of impeachment has left the platform. There will be no way to stop it,” DP leader Li Ji Miyun said at the start of the party meeting.
The first impeachment vote last Saturday failed because most PPP members boycotted the session.
‘Blow down the door and get the representatives out’
National Police Commissioner Cho Ji-ho was arrested early Wednesday on sedition charges, Yonhap reported. Cho is accused of hiring police to prevent lawmakers from entering parliament after Yoon declared martial law on Dec. 3.
Shortly after Yoon’s surprise late-night statement, lawmakers, including some members of his own party, defied a security cordon around parliament and voted to demand that the president immediately lift martial law, which he did hours later.
After appearing on live television on Saturday to apologize, Yoon was not seen in public again. PPP leader Han Dong-hoon said Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will manage state affairs while the party seeks an “orderly” way for the president to resign.
The constitutional legitimacy of this was questioned by opposition parties and some legal scholars.
Yoon’s office said Tuesday it had “no official position” on the question of who runs the country.
Kwak Jong-geun, commander of the military’s Special Warfare Command, told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that Yoon had ordered him to send his troops into parliament on Dec. 3, “break down the door” and “take out” lawmakers.
Yoon’s then-Defense Minister Kim was also accused by military officials of giving the same order.
Parliament is scheduled to hold a session on Wednesday to introduce a bill to impeach Yoon. A two-thirds majority of the opposition-controlled unicameral parliament is required to pass the law. The Constitutional Court then reviews the case and decides whether to remove the president from office.
