A prison official says South Korea’s ex-defense chief Kim Yong Hyun tried to kill himself after being arrested over the martial law declaration he’s accused of suggesting.
martial law declaration
The main liberal opposition Democratic Party is pushing for a new motion to impeach Yoon for his Dec. 3 decree that imposed martial law in South Korea for the first time in more than four decades. Its first impeachment attempt against Yoon last Saturday failed after ruling party lawmakers boycotted the vote. The party said it plans to submit the new motion on Thursday to set up another vote this Saturday.
Yoon’s ill-conceived power grab has paralyzed South Korean politics, frozen its foreign policy and rattled financial markets. On Wednesday, ’s state media for the first time reported about the turmoil across the border, but the country hasn’t shown any suspicious activities.rival North Korea
Shin Yong Hae, commissioner general of the Korea Correctional Service, told lawmakers that former Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun tried to kill himself the previous night at a detention center in Seoul. He said correctional officers stopped him and that he was in stable condition. by prosecutors early Wednesday on allegations of playing a key role in a rebellion and committing abuse of power. He became the first person formally arrested over the martial law decree.Kim was arrested
Kim, one of Yoon’s close associates, has been accused of recommending martial law to Yoon and sending troops to the National Assembly to block lawmakers from voting on it. Enough lawmakers eventually managed to enter a parliament chamber and they unanimously rejected Yoon’s decree, forcing the Cabinet to lift it before daybreak on Dec. 4.
Kim said in a statement on Tuesday that he „deeply apologizes for causing significant anxiety“ to the public. He said all responsibility for the martial law imposition rests with him and pleaded for leniency for soldiers deployed to enforce it.
Prosecutors have up to 20 days to determine whether to indict Kim.
Later Wednesday, police detained National Police Agency Commissioner General Cho Ji Ho and Kim Bong-sik, head of Seoul’s metropolitan police. They were accused of deploying police forces to parliament to block lawmakers from voting.
The focus of the investigation is determining whether Yoon, Kim and others involved in imposing martial law committed the act of rebellion. A conviction for rebellion carries a maximum penalty of death in South Korea.
South Korean police said they sent officers to search Yoon’s office Wednesday to look for any evidence related to the martial law introduction. But investigators had failed to enter the office as of Wednesday evening, about six hours after their arrival, senior police officer Lee Ho-young told the parliament. Some observers earlier said the presidential security service was unlikely to permit any searches of Yoon’s office, citing a law that prohibits searches of sites with state secrets without approval from those in charge of the areas in question.
Yoon on Saturday , saying he wouldn’t avoid legal or political responsibility for it. He said he would leave it to his party to chart a course through the country’s political turmoil, „including matters related to my term in office.“apologized over the martial law decree
The leader of Yoon’s ruling party later vowed to arrange the president’s stable exit from office, saying the party would coordinate with Cabinet members over state affairs and that Yoon would be sidelined from duties. The comments were criticized as unrealistic and unconstitutional, and caused widespread questions about who is in charge of South Korea and its military at a time of . The Justice Ministry on Tuesday banned Yoon from leaving the country as he faces investigations.heightened tension with North Korea
Vice Defense Minister Kim Seon Ho reiterated Wednesday that Yoon remains in charge of the military. But Yoon hasn’t been involved in any major official activities since lifting martial law, except for accepting resignation offers by officials involved in the martial law case and appointing the head for the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
A Wednesday article from the North’s state news agency reported about the South Korean political chaos and protests triggered by Yoon’s martial law decree. The report mostly attempted to explain the South Korean events, though it called Yoon „a traitor“ and his military „gangsters.“
Many experts say North Korea is sensitive to the domestic spread of news on major anti-government protests in foreign countries, because its own people have no official access to international news and could be affected by such events. The U.S. State Department said Monday that the U.S.-South Korean alliance remains „iron-clad“ and that Washington is committed to the peace and security of the Korean Peninsula.
In his martial law announcement, the conservative Yoon stressed a need to rebuild the country by eliminating „shameless North Korea followers and anti-state forces“, a reference to his liberal rivals who control parliament. Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has had near-constant friction with the Democratic Party, which introduced motions to impeach some of his top officials and launched a political offensive over scandals involving Yoon and his wife.
Opposition parties and many experts say the martial law decree was unconstitutional. They say a president is by law allowed to declare martial law only during wartime or similar emergency situations, but South Korea wasn’t in such a predicament. They argue that deploying troops to seal the National Assembly to suspend its political activities amounted to rebellion because the constitution doesn’t allow a president to use the military to suspend parliament in any situation.
If Yoon is impeached, his presidential powers would be suspended until the Constitutional Court decides whether to restore his powers or remove him from office. If he is dismissed from office, a new presidential election would be required.

Russia potentially losing bases in Syria would significantly affect Russia’s ability to operate in Africa, said the ISW think tank.
Russia’s operations across Africa are now in jeopardy, compromised by the abrupt collapse of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime with looming questions hanging over the Kremlin about the fate of its military bases in the now rebel-held country.
A coalition of anti-regime rebels, led by Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, began a lightning push from northwestern Syria at the start of December after years of relatively static fighting.
The fighters quickly seized control of swathes of government-held territory in the northwest, before surging toward the capital and forcing Assad to flee, despite Russian airstrikes in support of the regime.
Rebels appointed Mohammad al-Bashir, who had held office in the rebel-controlled northwestern Syrian city of Idlib, as prime minister until early March.
Russia has deep roots in Syria, particularly through its naval base in Tartus, a port city looking out onto the Mediterranean and its Khmeimim air base just further north. Moscow has wielded its position—particularly in Tartus—to cement its influence out into the Mediterranean, providing a link to the Black Sea while looming over NATO’s southern flank close to Africa.
The fate of these military facilities isn’t clear, although reports suggest Moscow is pulling at least some of its military equipment from western Syria. Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency said on Sunday that Russia had pulled a frigate and a cargo ship from Tartus, while „transferring the remnants of their weapons and military equipment from Syria by military aircraft from the Khmeimim air base.“
In a statement published on Tuesday, the GUR said it had detected several Russian military aircraft leaving Khmeimim for numerous Russian airfields. The spy agency said „several hundred“ Russian special forces soldiers were in Tartus to oversee operations.
„The loss of Russian bases in Syria will have major implications for Russia’s global military footprint and ability to operate in Africa“, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S.-based think tank, said on Sunday.
The Kremlin has maintained an extensive presence in Africa for decades, particularly through government-linked and murkily accountable paramilitary organizations like the Wagner Group. The Africa Corps refers to a more formally Russian military grouping, still heavily leaning on mercenary recruits.
Moscow is particularly known for its footprint in the Central African Republic, Mali and Niger, among other countries. Analysts have said Russia curated a foothold in Africa during the Cold War, and has since tapped into anti-Western feeling to boost its influence.
Rybar, a prominent Russian military blogging channel thought to be at least partly run by a former Russian Defense Ministry employee, said on Monday that Assad’s fall „obviously threatens“ the Tartus and Khmeimim bases, which are key for Russia’s operations in Libya and the Sahel.
The Sahel region sweeps in a band across West Africa to the east, including countries like Mali and Sudan.
„Khmeimim, in particular, is a refueling point for aircraft transporting military equipment, personnel and other cargo“, the Rybar channel said, adding Russia should reevaluate its options for ferrying supplies and equipment to its forces operating in Africa.
„After Syria, the next logistics hub for the Russian military leadership is Libya“, the channel wrote. But Moscow’s aircraft can only reach Libya without stopping to refuel when they’re not carrying cargo, according to the military blogger.
„Thus, supplying operations in Africa through Libya become very expensive and unstable“, Rybar wrote. The channel suggested Russia could leverage its presence in the eastern Libyan port of Tobruk or continue negotiations for a base in the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, but said both options could be difficult for Moscow.
„Therefore, the loss of Syria as a transit base could be a blow not only to our positions in the Middle East, but also in Africa“, Rybar wrote.
The Kremlin could indeed look to use its footprint in Libya or Sudan, but Russia doesn’t have any formal agreements with these countries, the ISW said.
Moscow’s failure to prop up longtime ally Assad may also threaten its position „with African autocrats whom Russia seeks to support and its broader geopolitical objective to posture as a global superpower“, the think tank added.

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On paper, Luigi Mangione had it all: wealth, intellect, athleticism, good looks. But the child of a prominent Maryland family may have spurned it all in a spasm of violence, in a killing that has mesmerized Americans.
The 26-year-old was arrested Monday and charged with the murder of Brian Thompson, a health insurance chief executive and father of two who was gunned down in Manhattan last week by someone who, evidence suggests, has endured his own debilitating health crises and grew angry with the privatized US medical system.
The cold-blooded killing has laid bare the deep frustration many Americans feel toward the country’s labyrinthine health care system: while many have condemned the shooting, others have praised Mangione as a hero.
It has also prompted considerable interest in how a young engineer with an Ivy League education could have gone off the rails to commit murder.
News of his capture at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s triggered an explosion of online activity, with Mangione quickly amassing new followers on social media as citizen sleuths and US media tried to understand who he is.
As Americans have looked for clues about a political ideology or potential motive, a photo on his X account (formerly Twitter) includes an X-ray of an apparently injured spine.
Mangione lived in Hawaii in 2022 and, according to his former roommate R.J. Martin, suffered from back pain, and was hoping to strengthen his back.
After a surfing lesson, Mangione was “in bed for about a week” because of the pain, Martin told CNN.
Earlier this year, Martin said, Mangione confirmed he’d had back surgery and sent him photos of the X-rays.
Police said the suspect carried a hand-written manifesto of grievances in which he slammed America’s “most expensive health care system in the world.”
“He was writing a lot about his disdain for corporate America and in particular the health care industry,” New York police chief detective Joseph Kenny told ABC.
According to CNN, a document recovered when Mangione was arrested included the phrase “these parasites had it coming.”
Meanwhile, memes and jokes proliferated, many riffing on his first name and comparing him to the “Mario Bros.” video game character Luigi.
Many expressed at least partial sympathy, having had their own harrowing experiences with the US health care system.
“Godspeed. Please know that we all hear you,” wrote one user on Facebook.
Mangione hails from the Baltimore area. His wealthy Italian-American family owns local businesses, including the Hayfields Country Club, according to local outlet the Baltimore Banner, and cousin Nino Mangione is a Maryland state delegate.
A standout student, Luigi graduated at the top of his high school class in 2016. A former student who knew Mangione at the elite Gilman School told AFP the suspect struck him as “a normal guy, nice kid.”
“There was nothing about him that was off, at least from my perception,” the person said.
Mangione attended the prestigious University of Pennsylvania, where he completed both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer science by 2020, according to a university spokesperson.
While at Penn, Mangione co-led a group of 60 undergraduates who collaborated on video game projects, as noted in a now-deleted university webpage.
On Instagram Mangione shared snapshots of his travels, and shirtless images of himself flaunting a six-pack.
X users have scoured Mangione’s posts for potential motives. His header photo includes an X-ray of a spine with bolts attached.
Finding a political ideology that fits neatly onto the right-left divide has proved elusive, though he had written a review of Ted Kaczynski’s manifesto on online site Goodreads, calling it “prescient.”
Kaczynski, known as the Unabomber, carried out multiple bombings in the United States from 1978 to 1995, in a campaign he said was aimed at halting the advance of modern society and technology.
Mangione has also linked approvingly to posts criticizing secularism as a harmful consequence of Christianity’s decline, and retweeted posts on the impact mobile phones and social media have on mental health.