Kim Yong Hyun, who was the first person formally arrested over the martial law decree, was stopped after guards discovered him
South Korea‘s former defence minister attempted to take his own life while in detention over last week’s martial law, officials have said.
Kim Yong Hyun was stopped by guards who found him, Shin Yong Hae, commissioner general of the Korea Correctional Service, told politicians.
He said Mr Kim is now in a stable condition.
Justice Minister Park Sung Jae also confirmed Mr Kim’s failed suicide attempt.
Mr Kim was the first person formally arrested over the martial law decree after after a Seoul court approved a warrant for him on allegations of playing a key role in a rebellion and committing abuse of power.
The latest development came as police were reported to be raiding President Yoon Suk Yeol‘s office in their intensifying investigation over the power grab.
The raid marks a dramatic escalation of the probe against Yoon and top police and military officers over the incident, which plunged Asia’s fourth-largest economy and a major US ally into a constitutional crisis.
Yoon was not at the presidential office compound during the raid, the Yonhap news agency said.
The country’s main law enforcement institutions are focusing on finding whether Yoon and others involved in imposing martial law committed the crime of rebellion.
The main liberal opposition Democratic Party also plans to submit a new motion to impeach Yoon for his martial law declaration on 3 December.
Yoon survived an impeachment attempt last Saturday when the ruling party boycotted the vote.
Separately, North Korea’s state news agency has for the first time reported about the political turmoil and street protests triggered by the martial law decree.
The report mostly attempted to explain the South Korean events, although it also called Yoon “a traitor” and his military “gangsters.”
Many experts say North Korea is sensitive to the domestic spread of news on massive anti-government protests in foreign countries because its own people have no official access to international news and could be affected by such events.
With agencies
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