Public fury: Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions shouting slogans while holding signs with the names of ruling party lawmakers who did not vote on the impeachment motion. — AP
President Yoon Suk-yeol has been banned from leaving the country over a failed attempt at imposing martial law, a justice ministry official said, amid growing calls for him to step down and a deepening leadership crisis.
Yoon has apologised for the botched attempt and said he was leaving his political and legal fate to his ruling People Power Party (PPP) but has not resigned.
He has become the subject of criminal investigation, according to local media reports.
The defence ministry said Yoon was still legally commander in chief, but his grip on power has come into question with dissent growing among senior military officers against the president, and his own party saying it would establish a task force to handle his eventual resignation.
Oh Dong-woon, the head of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, said he has ordered a ban on foreign travel for Yoon, when asked at a parliament hearing what actions have been taken against the embattled president.
A justice ministry official, Bae Sang-up, told the committee the travel ban order has been executed.
The panel was established in 2021 to investigate high-ranking officials including the president and their family members but it does not have authority to prosecute the president.
Instead, it is by law required to refer the matter to the prosecutors’ office.
While Yoon survived an impeachment vote in parliament last Saturday, his party’s decision to delegate presidential authority to the prime minister has plunged the key United States ally into a constitutional crisis.
Yoon has refused calls, including some from within his own ruling party, to resign, and his future looked more uncertain over the weekend when Yonhap news agency reported he was under criminal investigation for alleged treason.
Prosecutors yesterday arrested ex-defence minister Kim Yong-hyun over his alleged role in the declaration of martial law on Dec 3, Yonhap reported.
Yoon gave the military sweeping emergency powers on Dec 3 to root out what he called “anti-state forces” and obstructionist political opponents.
He rescinded the order six hours later, after parliament defied military and police cordons to vote unanimously against the decree.
Amid the backlash, multiple military officials, including the acting defence minister, have said they would not follow any new order to impose martial law again.
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) has called for Yoon to be stripped of authority to control the military. The DP has also demanded the arrest of Yoon and any military officials implicated in the martial law fiasco.
Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung warned yesterday that the political crisis threatened to do irreversible harm to Asia’s fourth-largest economy, a major global supplier of memory chips.
South Korea’s finance ministry and regulators said they would make all-out efforts to stabilise financial markets by deploying contingency plans and boosting liquidity by end-December. — Reuters
