South Korea’s President Yoon Banned From Overseas Travel

South Korea’s Justice Ministry banned President Yoon Suk Yeol from traveling overseas as a series of probes emerge against the embattled leader over his brief declaration of martial law.

The ministry accepted a request for the ban on Monday from the Corruption Investigation Office For High-ranking Officials.

The police’s National Office of Investigation has also set up an investigation team comprising of 150 officers to look into the president’s martial law declaration, according to Woo Jong-soo, the head of the office. Police are also considering whether to put Yoon under emergency arrest, Yonhap News reported, citing a police official it did not identify.  

Prosecutors already launched their own investigation and arrested former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun over the weekend.

The flurry of activity by police and prosecutors to investigate Yoon and others involved in the brief imposition of martial law last week is likely to add to pressure on the president to step down sooner rather than later. 

The fallout from Yoon’s shock announcement of martial law on Tuesday, its subsequent retraction and a failed impeachment vote against him continues to ripple through markets and fuel public anger. 

The political turmoil is set to continue with political parties still at odds over how the country should be run over the coming weeks and with the opposition planning further impeachment votes targeting both Yoon and possibly the prime minister.

Ruling People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon has said Yoon will be suspended from diplomatic activities, so the significance of the ban will largely be a symbolic though it points to the seriousness of the probes against him and would prevent any flight risk. Yoon’s office did not immediately comment. 

Investigation office chief Woo said the team looking into those involved in the declaration have entered the home and office of former Defense Minister Kim, who is believed to have played a key role in the operations. Investigators have questioned other officials involved, too, he added. 

The former defense minister has already been arrested by the prosecution, which is pursuing a separate probe into the same case.

Multiple probes into the same events may cause some confusion over who has jurisdiction, with Yoon’s ties with many prosecutors also complicating matters. 

While the opposition Democratic Party is likely to try another impeachment vote against Yoon this Saturday as it tries to speed up his stepping down, its possible move to impeach Prime Minister Han Duck-soo may cause more immediate trouble for the handling of affairs going forward. That’s because the impeachment vote threshold would be lower and more achievable.

The PPP’s Han has tried to stabilize the political chaos by putting the prime minister into the power vacuum created by Yoon’s weakened position. But the opposition has rejected the idea, saying there is no legal ground to arbitrarily transfer the presidential authority to the prime minister.

With public protests set to continue, union leaders are also mulling what action to take. Unionized workers at auto factories, train operators, public schools and hospitals threatened to strike if Yoon doesn’t step down.