South Korean police arrested the country’s former defence minister Kim Yong Hyun amid an investigation into alleged treason, news agency Yonhap reported on Sunday.
The 65-year-old, who resigned on Wednesday and was replaced the following day, had been a vocal supporter of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s now-reversed decision to declare martial law.
On Tuesday, Yoon called for the imposition of martial law, accusing the opposition of sympathizing with North Korea. He said the move was aimed at “eradicating pro-North Korean forces and protecting the constitutional order of freedom.”
This marked the first time since South Korea’s transition to democracy in the late 1980s that the country’s head of state imposed martial law.
A few days later, Yoon accepted Kim’s resignation, with the former defence minister reportedly playing a role in proposing the martial law plans.
On Saturday, a parliamentary motion to impeach Yoon failed after almost all members of the president’s ruling People Power Party boycotted the vote.
Only 195 of the 300 members of parliament cast their vote, meaning the motion fell short of the necessary two-thirds majority by five votes.
Yoon nonetheless faces intense pressure to resign, with more than 100,000 demonstrators gathering outside the parliament building to demand the president’s impeachment on Saturday evening, according to Yonhap.
