South Korea: Police consider entry ban against overseas President Yoon

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – South Korea’s Justice Ministry on Monday imposed an overseas travel ban on the president Yoon Suk Yeol as authorities investigate sedition and other charges related to his brief declaration of martial law last week.

Yoon’s Martial Law Decree on Dec. 3, which brought special forces onto the streets of Seoul, plunged South Korea into political turmoil and raised concerns among its key diplomatic partners and neighbors. On Saturday, Yoon avoided an opposition-led bid for impeachment him, where most ruling party lawmakers boycotted a parliamentary vote.

But opposition parties vowed to file a new impeachment case against him this week.

Bae Sang-up, a Justice Ministry official, told a parliamentary hearing that it barred Yoon from leaving the country at the request of police, prosecutors and an anti-corruption agency while they expand their investigations into the circumstances surrounding Yoon’s rise to power.

On Monday, a senior National Police Agency official told local reporters in a background briefing that police can also detain Yoon if conditions are met. The contents of the briefing were shared with the Associated Press.

While a sitting South Korean president has immunity from prosecution while in office, this does not include charges of rebellion or treason. That means Yoon could be questioned and detained by police because of his martial law decree, but many observers doubt police will forcefully detain him because of the potential for clashes with his presidential security service. They also say the security service is unlikely to allow searches of Yoon’s office, citing a law that prohibits searches of websites containing state secrets without the approval of those in charge of those areas.

In the case of former president Park Geun-hyewho was thrown out of office in 2017 after being impeached by parliament over a corruption scandal, prosecutors failed to search her office and ended up receiving documents from outside the area because presidential officials rejected them.

After refusing to meet with prosecutors while in office, Park was questioned by them and was arrested after the Constitutional Court approved her impeachment and decided to remove her as president in March 2017.

The main opposition Democratic Party called Yoon’s introduction of martial law “unconstitutional, illegal rebellion or coup d’état.” It has filed police complaints against at least nine people, including Yoon and his former defense minister, over the sedition charges.

South Korean prosecutors detained former defense minister on Sunday Kim Yong Hyunwho reportedly recommended that Yoon declare court martial. He became the first person to be detained in the court-martial.

The Ministry of Defense separately suspended three top military commanders last week over their alleged involvement in imposing martial law. They were among those facing sedition charges brought by the opposition.

On Saturday, Yoon issued an apology court martial decree stating that he will not evade legal or political responsibility for the statement. He said he would leave it to his party to chart a course through the country’s political turmoil, “including issues related to my tenure.”

Since taking office in 2022 for a single five-year term, Yoon, a conservative, has been on a near-constant collision course with his liberal rivals who control parliament. The liberals have introduced motions seeking to impeach some of his top officials and launched a fierce political offensive against Yoon over a wave of scandals involving him and his wife.

In his martial law announcement on Tuesday evening, Yoon called parliament a “den of criminals” who scuttle state affairs and vowed to eliminate “shameless North Korean supporters and anti-state forces.”

Yoons martial law decree lasted only six hours because the National Assembly voted it down, forcing Yoon’s cabinet to lift it before dawn Wednesday. Some members of Yoon’s ruling People Power Party, or PPP, cast ballots against Yoon’s decree, but the party later decided to oppose his impeachment.

Experts say Yoon’s party fears losing the presidency to liberals in a by-election if he is impeached and removed, as they did after Park was removed from office. The PPP’s boycott of the vote is expected to intensify protests demanding Yoon’s impeachment.

PPP leader He Dong-hun said Sunday that his party would push for Yoon’s early and orderly exit from office in a way that minimizes social confusion, but he did not say when that would happen. He also said that Yoon will not be involved in state affairs, including foreign policy.

Critics say Han likely wants to buy time to help his party restore public confidence. His comments about sidelining Yoon from state affairs have also sparked widespread concern and criticism that it is unconstitutional.

During a briefing Monday, the Defense Ministry said Yoon retains control of the military, a power the constitution expressly reserves for the president.

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An earlier version of this story was corrected to show that the day of the impeachment vote was Saturday, not Sunday.