On December 4, 2024, in Seoul, South Korea, people gathered outside the National Assembly after South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol declared martial law.
Kim Soo Hyun | Reuters
South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol has been banned from leaving the country over a failed attempt to impose martial law, Justice Department officials said on Monday, amid growing calls for him to step down and a deepening leadership crisis.
Yoon has apologized for the botched attempt and said he would leave his political and legal fate to the ruling People’s Power Party (PPP), but he has not resigned. He has become the subject of a criminal investigation, local media reported.
On Monday, the Defense Ministry said Yoon remained legally commander-in-chief, but his grip on power has been called into question, with dissent against the president growing among senior military officers and his own party saying it would set up a task force to deal with his Final question resigned.
Asked at a parliamentary hearing what action had been taken against the embattled president, Oh Dong-woon, director of the Office for the Investigation of Senior Officials’ Corruption, said he had ordered Yoon banned from traveling abroad.
Justice Ministry official Bae Sang-up told the committee that the travel ban has been implemented.
The panel was established in 2021 to investigate senior officials, including the president and his family, but does not have the power to prosecute the president. Instead, the law requires that the matter be referred to the prosecutor’s office.
While Yoon survived Saturday’s parliamentary impeachment vote, his party’s decision to delegate presidential powers to the prime minister plunged the United States’ key ally into a constitutional crisis.
Yoon has rejected calls to resign, including some from within his ruling party.
Prosecutors arrested former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun on Sunday for his alleged involvement in the declaration of martial law on December 3, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Yin granted the military sweeping emergency powers on December 3 to root out what he called “anti-national forces” and thwart political opponents. He revoked the order six hours later after parliament voted unanimously against the decree, defying a military and police blockade.
Amid the backlash, several military officials, including the acting defense secretary, said they would not follow any new orders to impose martial law again.
The main opposition Democratic Party has called for Mr Yoon to be stripped of his power to control the military. The Democratic Party also calls for the arrest of Yoon and any military officials related to the martial law fiasco.
A spokesman said on Monday that Yun’s People’s Power Party (PPP) has set up a special working group to deal with matters such as “martial law and political stability after (Yin’s) orderly and early resignation”.
On Sunday, People’s Party leader Han Dong-hoon said the president would be excluded from foreign affairs and other state affairs and Prime Minister Han Deok-soo would manage government affairs until Yoon eventually steps down.
The proposal was criticized by the opposition as unconstitutional. It said Yin must be impeached or resign and face legal prosecution, and planned to introduce another impeachment bill on Saturday.
Jang Young-soo, a professor at Korea University Law School, said the president can delegate power to the prime minister, especially his control of the military, but whether the prime minister has the right to serve as head of state is still controversial.
“In addition, unlike the US vice president, the South Korean prime minister is not elected, which means democratic legitimacy is weak. Therefore, how long this system can last is also a question,” he said.
military backlash
Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung warned on Monday that the political crisis could cause irreversible damage to Asia’s fourth-largest economy and the world’s main supplier of memory chips.
South Korea’s Ministry of Finance and regulators said they would deploy emergency plans and increase liquidity by the end of December in an effort to stabilize the financial market.
South Korea’s special forces chief said he was ordered to send troops into parliament last week to block a vote to reject martial law, the latest sign of dissent within the military.
Colonel Kim Hyun-tae, commander of the 707th Special Mission Group, told reporters that he was responsible for the unit’s actions, but that he was acting on orders from then-Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun.
“We are all victims of being taken advantage of by the former defense minister,” the colonel told reporters outside the Defense Ministry in Seoul.
He said he did not tell the military about his plans to speak to the media out of fear he might be blocked.
President Yoon’s decision to declare a state of emergency and grant sweeping powers to the military sparked street protests and alarmed Seoul’s allies.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin canceled plans to visit South Korea, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken called his South Korean counterpart to say he expected the democratic process to prevail.
The United States has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-1953 Korean War.
The unrest in Seoul comes at an important geopolitical moment for the region, with North Korea reportedly sending troops to help Russia in its war against Ukraine amid growing military ties between Moscow and Pyongyang.
South Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol said he “cannot help but feel sad” about the incident, which occurred at a time when the country is facing increasingly serious security threats.
