South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been relieved of his duties after he was impeached by the National Assembly on December 14th. Yeol was impeached after he declared martial law and tried to use the military to shut down a congressional investigation into a bribery scandal involving his wife and expensive designer handbags. Some of the top law enforcement officials in the country have now been arrested and they’re facing the death penalty for treason.
Within three hours of President Yeol declaring martial law, the National Assembly voted to overrule him. It was the shortest declaration of martial law in history and it was declared for the dumbest possible reason—a bribery scandal involving the First Lady.
Defense Minister Kim Yong-Hyun resigned last week after a warrant for his arrest was issued. Yong-Hyun had aided President Yeol in the attempt to impose martial law to shut down the government. When Yong-Hyun was informed that he now faces the death penalty for the charges, he tried to kill himself in a detention center bathroom.
The nation’s two top law enforcement officers have also been taken into custody for the attempted insurrection. Seoul metropolitan police chief Kim Bong-sik and National Police Commissioner Cho Ji-ho are both being held in jail without bail.
Both men deployed police to try to stop the National Assembly members from traveling to the parliament building to vote against the martial law declaration. Yoon’s presidential powers have been stripped away after the impeachment vote and he’s been banned from traveling outside the country. He hasn’t been charged with any crimes yet, however.
The three top law enforcement officials who have been arrested for their roles in the attempted coup all face a maximum penalty of death by hanging.
