South Korea’s former defence minister, who is accused of playing a lead role in the president’s failed imposition of martial law, has tried to commit suicide in police custody.

Shin Yong-hae, commissioner general of the Korea Correctional Service, told parliament that Kim Mr tried to kill himself at a detention centre in Seoul. 

Mr Shin said Mr Kim’s suicide attempt failed and he was in a stable condition.

Mr Kim was formally arrested on Wednesday after a Seoul court approved a warrant for his arrest over allegations he committed a rebellion and carried out an abuse of power.

It comes as South Korean police searched President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office on Wednesday over his martial law move last week, reports said, as some of his top officials were arrested, detained and questioned about their actions in enforcing his orders.

National Police Agency Commissioner General Cho Ji Ho and Kim Bong-sik, head of the metropolitan police agency of the capital, Seoul, were also arrested.

The developments come hours before the main liberal opposition Democratic Party submits a new motion to impeach Mr Yoon as the country’s main law enforcement institutions expand their investigations into whether the president’s declaration amounted to rebellion.

The first impeachment attempt failed last Saturday when the ruling party boycotted the vote. The Democratic Party said it aims to put the new motion to a vote on Saturday.

Yonhap news agency reported that police are searching Mr Yoon’s office but gave no further details.

The country’s main law enforcement institutions are focusing on finding whether Mr Yoon and others involved in imposing martial law committed the crime of rebellion.

They are being investigated for their roles in deploying police forces to the National Assembly to block lawmakers from voting to lift Mr Yoon’s martial law decree.