Yoon Suk-yeol’s key aide arrested as South Korea’s martial law inquiry widens

A key aide to former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol has been arrested on charges of attempting to silence negative news broadcasts, as a sweeping investigation into Yoon’s short-lived martial law declaration continues to widen.

Meanwhile, special prosecutors, armed with a court warrant, visited Yoon at the Seoul Detention Centre on Friday but failed to bring him out of his cell for questioning due to his continued resistance.

“Today’s attempt to execute the arrest warrant for former president Yoon Suk-yeol could not be completed due to his strong refusal to comply,” the special prosecutors said in a statement.

Early on Friday, the Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for Lee Sang-min, Yoon’s former interior minister, citing concerns over potential destruction of evidence.

Lee, 60, was taken into custody immediately and is now being held at the same detention centre as Yoon, who was rearrested on July 10 in connection with the controversial decree that plunged the country into a constitutional crisis.

Jung Suk-koo, former executive editor of the progressive Hankyoreh daily, said Lee and former defence minister Kim Yong-hyun – who was arrested in December – were pivotal to Yoon’s alleged attempt at a self-coup.