S.Korea former defence minister attempts suicide in custody over martial law

South Korea’s previous defence minister was stopped from attempting suicide while in detention over last week’s martial law declaration, officials said on Wednesday, as President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office resisted a police attempt to search the compound.

The main liberal opposition Democratic Party is pushing for a new motion to impeach Yoon for his Dec.3 decree that imposed martial law in South Korea for the first time in more than four decades. Its first impeachment attempt against Yoon last Saturday failed after ruling party lawmakers boycotted the vote. The party said it plans to submit the new motion on Thursday to set up a vote on Saturday.

Yoon’s ill-conceived power grab has paralysed South Korean politics, frozen its foreign policy and rattled financial markets. On Wednesday, rival North Korea’s state media for the first time reported about the turmoil across the border, but the country hasn’t shown any suspicious activities.

Shin Yong Hae, commissioner general of the Korea Correctional Service, told lawmakers that former Defence Minister Kim Yong Hyun tried to kill himself the previous night at a detention centre in Seoul. He said correctional officers stopped him and that he was in stable condition.

Kim was arrested by prosecutors early Wednesday on allegations of playing a key role in a rebellion and committing abuse of power. He became the first person formally arrested over the martial law decree.

Kim, one of Yoon’s close associates, has been accused of recommending martial law to Yoon and sending troops to the National Assembly to block lawmakers from voting on it. Enough lawmakers eventually managed to enter a parliament chamber and they unanimously rejected Yoon’s decree, forcing the Cabinet to lift it before daybreak on Dec.4.

Later on Wednesday, police detained National Police Agency Commissioner General Cho Ji Ho and Kim Bong-sik, head of Seoul’s metropolitan police. They were accused of deploying police forces to parliament to block lawmakers from voting.

The main focus of the investigation is finding whether Yoon, Kim and others involved in imposing martial law committed rebellion. A conviction for rebellion carries a maximum penalty of death.

South Korean police said they sent officers to search Yoon’s office on Wednesday to look for any evidence related to the martial law introduction. But investigators failed to enter the office as of Wednesday evening, about six hours after their arrival, senior police officer Lee Ho-young told the parliament.

Associated Press