Former South Korean Defense Minister Attempts Suicide After Martial Law Disaster
DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Madelyn Keech
Former South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun reportedly attempted to kill himself on Tuesday night while in police detention.
Kim resigned last Thursday, the first top official to lose his position after President Yoon Suk-yeol’s disastrous attempt to impose martial law two days earlier.
Kim was also the first person to be arrested after the martial law disaster, which was aborted by the South Korean legislature just hours after Yoon issued the order. A court in Seoul issued a warrant for Kim’s arrest on charges of “rebellion and abuse of power.”
The court ruled it was important to take Kim into custody quickly because there was a high risk of him destroying evidence. The severity of the charges was also cited in the warrant.
South Korea’s chief corrections officer, Shin Yong-hae, said Kim was prevented from taking his own life on Tuesday night, and is currently under isolation and observation.
Shin said Kim attempted to kill himself in a bathroom at the Seoul Dongbu Detention Center and abandoned the attempt when a corrections officer opened the door. Other reports said Kim tried to use either a string from his clothing, or his underwear, to strangle himself. He apparently wished to die before his arrest was formally announced on Wednesday morning.
Kim has been accused of suggesting martial law to Yoon and devising the plan to implement it, which included sending troops to lock down the headquarters of the National Assembly so legislators could not vote to overrule the president. Enough legislators defied the blockade to cast the vote that ended martial law, even as security forces were smashing through the windows to stop them.
Kim was detained on Sunday and formally placed under arrest on Wednesday. Prosecutors have twenty days to decide whether to indict him. If he is charged with rebellion, he could face the death penalty.
Kim issued a statement on Tuesday taking full responsibility for the martial law debacle. He said he “deeply apologizes for causing significant anxiety and inconvenience,” and pleaded for lenient treatment of the soldiers who were merely following his orders.
President of South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol, left, and National Security Director Shin Wonsik, right, listen during a trilateral meeting with President Joe Biden and the Prime Minister of Japan Shigeru Ishiba in Lima, Peru, on November 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
The National Assembly, which is controlled by the opposition Democratic Party (DP), opened a probe of the martial law crisis on Tuesday and heart testimony from Army Special Warfare commander Kwak Jong-keun.
Kwak said the order to blockade the National Assembly building came directly from Kim, and he was explicitly ordered to prevent enough legislators from gathering in the building to overturn the martial law order. In fact, he testified that Kim wanted his troops to break down the doors to the assembly chamber and physically “drag out the lawmakers who are inside.” Kwak and his commanders on the scene chose not to carry out this order because they felt it could not be done safely.
Another senior officer, military counterintelligence commander Kim Dae-woo, testified that his superior Yeo In-hyung inquired about the possibility of incarcerating lawmakers in a Seoul army bunker. Yeo is a close ally of Kim Yong-hyun.
Kwak and Yeo have both been suspended from their positions and could face rebellion charges along with Kim. Yoon himself has been banned from traveling outside South Korea, and the National Police Agency is reportedly considering the option of detaining him. The South Korean presidency includes immunity from prosecution, but that immunity is waived for charges of rebellion or treason.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol answers a reporter’s question during a news conference at the Presidential Office in Seoul, South Korea, on November 7, 2024. (Kim Hong-Ji/Pool Photo via AP)
Two other officials have been placed under arrest since Kim, including National Police chief Cho Ji-ho and Seoul Police chief Kim Bong-sik.
On Wednesday, police raided Yoon’s office using a search warrant that named the president as a suspect. Yoon was not present at the time of the raid, and has not been seen in public since Saturday.
Yoon has avoided one impeachment effort so far, but faces another impeachment vote on Saturday. Members of Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) boycotted the first vote, but some have said they might support the second motion. The impeachment bill will pass if eight members of Yoon’s party are willing to vote alongside the united opposition.
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