Kim Yong-hyun, the former defense minister of South Korea, was taken into custody early Sunday as prosecutors investigated his role in President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived effort last week to impose martial law. That episode set off political upheaval in South Korea, including an opposition-led attempt to impeach the president and huge protests.
Mr. Kim is the first person to be detained as prosecutors begin their investigation into allegations made by President Yoon’s political opponents. The opposition asserts that Mr. Yoon and his followers in the government and military committed insurrection and other crimes when they sent soldiers and police officers into the National Assembly to seize the legislature shortly after the president declared martial law on Tuesday night.
Mr. Kim, who surrendered himself to investigators early Sunday, was arrested without a court warrant. The police and prosecutors can use such an “emergency arrest” when they have grounds to suspect a person committed a serious crime and there is risk of them fleeing or destroying evidence. They must apply for a court warrant within two days to formally arrest the suspect.
Mr. Kim, a key supporter of Mr. Yoon’s martial law plan, resigned after the extraordinary move fell through. The military rule lasted only six hours, after the National Assembly voted against it early Wednesday and forced Mr. Yoon to back down.
It was unclear whether Mr. Kim had a legal representative. Before his arrest, in an interview with the daily Dong-A Ilbo, he said he had been involved in Mr. Yoon’s declaration of martial law, but that it was imposed according to legal procedures.
For most of the two and a half years he has been in office, Mr. Yoon has endured low approval ratings and been in a near-constant political standoff with the opposition. They have tussled especially over his refusal to accept their demands that a special prosecutor be appointed to investigate allegations of corruption involving his wife.