South Korea arrests former defense minister

"We have urgently arrested former minister Kim Yong-hyun and confiscated the mobile phone he was carrying," the special investigation team on martial law at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office announced on December 8.

The arrest warrant was issued at 7:52 a.m. (5:52 a.m. Hanoi time), more than six hours after Mr. Kim Yong-hyun arrived at the Seoul Prosecutors' Office building and said he "will actively cooperate with the investigation" before entering the questioning session.

The special investigation team said there were sufficient grounds to urgently arrest former minister Kim Yong-hyun due to his alleged incitement to riot, as well as concerns about the risk of evidence being destroyed.

A person convicted of inciting a riot can face the death penalty. Under South Korean law, if authorities believe a suspect has committed the crime, if there are concerns about evidence being destroyed, and if there is an urgent need to obtain an arrest warrant, they can arrest a suspect without one.

South Korean media reported that former minister Kim Yong-hyun recently logged out of his Telegram account and logged back in, raising suspicions that he had destroyed evidence. Telegram said the secret messages were only stored on one device and would be deleted when he logged out.

Mr. Kim Yong-hyun has been taken to the Seoul Eastern Detention Center. The investigation team needs to apply for an arrest warrant within 48 hours of his arrest. If the investigation team does not apply or the court does not issue an arrest warrant, Mr. Kim Yong-hyun will be released after this period expires.

President Yoon Suk-yeol unexpectedly declared martial law on December 3, expressing anger at the opposition in the National Assembly. Former Minister Kim, who was Yoon's senior in high school, is considered to have suggested the President make the decision. The South Korean National Assembly held an emergency meeting in the early morning of December 4 and passed a resolution to block martial law.

Former Minister Kim Yong-hyun resigned on December 4, claiming to take full responsibility and saying that soldiers carrying out martial law duties only followed his instructions.

The opposition pushed for President Yoon's impeachment but failed as only 195 lawmakers supported it, falling short of the 200-vote threshold needed in a vote on December 7. However, Yoon's People Power Party (PPP) said it would draw up an "orderly" roadmap for the president to step down to avoid chaos.