A protester holds a sign reading ‘Leader of insurgents’ on an image depicting the face of South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol [File: Philip Fong/AFP]
AL JAZEERA | Published December 9, 2024
An overseas travel ban has been issued against the embattled president after his short-lived attempt to enforce martial law.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has been banned from leaving the country over a failed attempt at imposing martial law, amid growing calls for him to step down and a deepening leadership crisis.
Oh Dong-woon, the head of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, said on Monday he ordered a ban on foreign travel for Yoon when asked at a parliament hearing what actions have been taken against the embattled president.
A Ministry of Justice official, Bae Sang-up, told the committee the travel ban order has been executed.
Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) staged a walkout of the chamber before a vote to impeach the president on Saturday, prompting accusations of being “accomplices to insurrection” after the motion failed.
On Sunday, PPP leader Han Dong-hoon said Yoon would be excluded from foreign and other state affairs, and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo would manage government affairs until Yoon eventually stepped aside.
The decision to delegate presidential authority to the prime minister has plunged Asia’s fourth-largest economy into a constitutional crisis.
Al Jazeera’s Eunice Kim, reporting from Seoul, said the “big question” was how long the governing party would be able to maintain the scheme, which has caused uncertainty over who is in charge.
The defence ministry said Yoon was still legally commander-in-chief.
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SOURCE: www.aljazeera.com
RELATED: South Korea’s Yoon faces travel ban amid investigation into his martial law decree
Yoon Suk Yeol still the commander-in-chief of South Korea‘s military, defence ministry says
A participant wearing a mask of South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol attends a rally demanding his impeachment outside the National Assembly in Seoul (AP)
INDEPENDENT | Published December 9, 2024
South Korea’s justice ministry ordered a travel ban for president Yoon Suk Yeol during an investigation into his brief declaration of martial law.
Mr Yoon, who was still the commander-in-chief of the country’s military, faces an investigation for suspected treason over last week’s martial law declaration.
South Korean police, prosecutors and anti-corruption agency had requested the ban as they expand their probes into possible rebellion charges over Mr Yoon’s imposition of martial law last week.
Mr Yoon had said he entrusted his fate to the ruling party after a botched attempt to impose martial lawprompted calls for resignation and impeachment.
Prosecutors on Sunday named Mr Yoon as the subject of a criminal investigation after his attempt to put the country under martial law led to insurrection charges.
Prosecutors also detained Kim Yong Hyun, who reportedly advised the president to declare martial law and resigned as defence minister soon after.
The control of the armed forces “currently lies with the commander-in-chief”, Yonhap quoted the defence ministry spokesperson Jeon Ha-kyou as saying.
Meanwhile, Mr Yoon has been banned from foreign travel, a justice ministry official told a parliament committee hearing on Monday. Mr Yoon declared martial law late on Tuesday evening, only to see lawmakers overturn it through a parliamentary vote. Some of the lawmakers climbed over walls and pushed past soldiers deployed at the National Assembly to cast their votes.
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SOURCE: www.independent.co.uk
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