Former South Korean Defense Minister Arrested

• 8.12.2024, 12:14

He supported the introduction of martial law in the country.

South Korean prosecutors have arrested former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun on suspicion of involvement in President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law on Tuesday, December 3. The Guardian reported the arrest, citing local media.

Kim Yong-hyun, who resigned on Wednesday, is seen as a central figure in the brief declaration of martial law in South Korea. Impeachment papers against Yoon, prepared by the South Korean opposition, explicitly state that it was the defense minister who proposed martial law to the president.

Kim Yong-hyun, 66, is a former army general who joined Yoon Suk Yeol's 2022 election team. He is part of the so-called “Chungam faction” — a group in the president's inner circle, consisting of graduates of Chungam High School in the Eunpyeong-gu district of Seoul. Kim graduated from this school a year before Yoon.

According to some Korean media, Kim Yong-hyun played a key role in moving the presidential office to the building of the Ministry of National Defense. After Yoon Suk Yeol won the election, Kim Yong-hyun was appointed director of the Presidential Security Service. The latter became Minister of Defense in August of this year. And even then, some opposition parliamentarians expressed suspicions that his appointment was part of a conspiracy by the Yoon administration to introduce martial law.

Kim Yong-hyun voluntarily turned himself in to the Seoul Central District Public Prosecutor's Office at half past one in the morning on Sunday, December 8. It is known that he has already been questioned by a special investigation team.