South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been banned from leaving the country amid an investigation into his order to temporarily impose martial law, the country’s Justice Ministry said on Monday.
The national police said the head of state has been brought in as a suspect to investigate a case of treason, sedition and abuse of power. The probe is being conducted jointly with South Korea’s prosecutor’s office.
“The investigation team of the National Police Investigation Headquarters investigating the “martial law-related emergency incident on Dec. 3″ has announced, President Yoon Suk Yeol is a suspect and is considering banning him from leaving the country,” the Korean media reported.
On Sunday, Korean Newsis reported that South Korea’s Minister of Interior and Security Lee Sang-min resigned. His decision was approved by the country’s President Yoon. On the same day, South Korea’s prosecutor’s office labelled Yoon as a suspect in a case of rebellion against the state system. The country’s prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation into a claim by opposition lawmakers that the Korean president committed treason.
On Saturday, the National Assembly (parliament) of the Republic of Korea failed to get the required number of votes to impeach the country’s president. It needed 200 parliamentary votes to declare impeachment, and only 195 people voted.
Yoon declared martial law in the country on December 3. He cited the threat of power paralysis caused by attempts to conduct impeachment proceedings as the reason for the move.
Commander of the emergency regime, Chief of Staff of the Ground Forces Park An Soo noted that until martial law is lifted in the republic, the activities of parliament, political parties and associations are prohibited. Military equipment was brought to the streets of Seoul.
