International
S. Korean police raid Presidential Office in martial law probe
December 11, 2024 | 01:54 PM
South Korea's Police raided the presidential office on Wednesday to investigate charges that President Yoon Suk Yeol staged an insurrection by briefly imposing martial law last week.A team of 18 investigators was searching the presidential office for material related to the martial law decree, including records of a Cabinet meeting held shortly before Yoon announced the order on Dec. 3, according to the National Investigation Office of the National Police Agency (NPA).A warrant for the search listed Yoon as the suspect, and the president's office, the Cabinet meeting room and the Presidential Security Service as subjects of the raid, Yonhap News Agency reported.Earlier reports said Yoon was not inside the building at the time of the raid, but it later became unclear as those reports could not be confirmed.Yoon has been named a suspect on charges of insurrection and mutiny. He has also been barred from leaving the country, becoming the first sitting president to be slapped with an exit ban.Police suspect Yoon masterminded the alleged insurrection.Army Special Warfare Commander Lt. Gen. Kwak Jong-keun told lawmakers Tuesday he was ordered by Yoon to drag out lawmakers from inside the National Assembly building to stop them from repealing the martial law order last week.Police also raided the offices of the NPA, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) and the National Assembly Police Guards on Wednesday.The search followed the emergency arrests of NPA chief Cho Ji-ho and SMPA chief Kim Bong-sik in the early hours of the day.
December 11, 2024 | 01:54 PM