A Seoul court said it had approved an arrest warrant for former defense minister Kim Jong-hyun on charges he played a key role in the rebellion and abuse of office, making him the first person arrested under the state of emergency decree issued on Dec. 3.
Kim, a close associate of South Korean President Jun Suk Jul, resigned on Thursday and has been in custody since Sunday. Prosecutors have up to 20 days to decide whether to charge him. Conviction on a charge of sedition can carry the death penalty.
Kim is accused of recommending Jun impose martial law and sending the military to the National Assembly to prevent lawmakers from voting to impeach him for corruption. A number of deputies managed to enter the assembly and unanimously rejected June's decree, forcing the cabinet to repeal it as early as December 4.
Kim said in today's statement that he "profoundly apologizes for causing distress and inconvenience." He said that he was entirely responsible for the introduction of the state of emergency.
The opposition-controlled parliament today passed a bill appointing an independent special counsel to investigate Jun and other high-ranking military officials in connection with the imposition of a state of emergency.
The main opposition Democratic Party is pushing for an investigation by a special prosecutor, arguing that public prosecutors cannot be trusted to conduct a thorough investigation of Jun, the former chief prosecutor.
During today's parliamentary hearing, Kwak Jong-Keun, the commander of the Special Operations Command whose troops were sent to the parliament, testified that he received direct instructions from Kim Jong-hyun to obstruct lawmakers from entering the main hall of the National Assembly.
Kwak said the purpose of Kim's instructions was to prevent a parliamentary vote to lift Jun's state of emergency.
Opposition parties and many experts believe that the state of emergency decree was unconstitutional. They say the president is only allowed by law to declare a state of emergency during war or other similar national emergencies, and South Korea was not in such a situation.
They argue that the deployment of troops around the assembly to suspend its political activities amounted to rebellion, as South Korea's constitution does not allow the president to use the military to suspend parliament in any situation.
June avoided impeachment on Saturday after a majority of ruling party MPs boycotted the vote in the National Assembly. The Democratic Party announced that it will prepare for a new vote on June's impeachment, as early as Saturday. The party has also filed demands for the impeachment of June's police chief and justice minister.
If Jun is successfully impeached, his presidential powers would be suspended until the Constitutional Court decides whether to restore his powers or remove him from office. If she were to vote for removal, new presidential elections would be necessary.
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