South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is facing a major investigation that’s escalating quickly. Police raided his office on Wednesday, marking a significant turn in a probe into his controversial attempt to impose martial law on December 3rd.
Separately, Kim Yong-Hyun, Yoon’s former defence minister and close ally, tried to commit suicide while in detention. Prison guards found him using his underwear in an apparent suicide attempt. Officials reported that while he was seriously injured, his life was not in immediate danger.
Yoon himself has been conspicuously absent from public view since apologising on Saturday for trying to impose martial law. He is currently under a criminal investigation for insurrection and is not allowed to leave the country, though he has not been arrested or questioned by authorities.
Read Also: South Korean president Yoon under pressure to resign, banned from foreign trips
The investigation is broad, with top police and military officials also being targeted. In fact, the national police chief was arrested earlier on Wednesday as part of this ongoing probe, which has created a constitutional crisis in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
During the police raid, Yoon was not present at the presidential office compound. His official residence is located separately, and he has remained out of public sight since the scandal broke.
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