The National Office of Investigation (NOI) sent their officials to the above area at around 2:00 p.m. on December 12 (Korean time) to collect documents and materials related to the illegal declaration of martial law. on December 3 by President Yoon Suk Yeol, according to Yonhap News Agency.
Police set up barricades to block protesters’ march in Seoul on December 12
Police said today’s raid was aimed at the headquarters of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), located next to the presidential office, and the presidential office was not the subject of a search. The JCS building was used by the martial law command when the order took effect.
Police added that JCS has agreed to cooperate with the investigation and that police will receive documents from JCS in the form of voluntary surrender.
On December 11, police sought to search key offices, including the cabinet meeting room, the Presidential Security Agency and the bunker. This first search ended after several hours, and police were provided with limited documents from security agencies because they refused to cooperate, according to Yonhap.
Meanwhile, the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) in Korea today introduced a new impeachment motion against President Yoon over the declaration of martial law. The new impeachment motion was supported by five other opposition parties.
The DP’s move came after the impeachment motion against Mr. Yoon was canceled on December 7 due to not having enough delegates to vote because most lawmakers belong to his ruling People’s Power Party (PPP). Yoon boycotted the vote.
After the first impeachment motion failed, the DP said they would continue to push for Mr. Yoon’s impeachment every week.
The DP plans to put the impeachment motion to a vote at the plenary session on December 14. By law, an impeachment motion must be put to a vote within 24-72 hours after it is reported to the plenary session.
PPP leader Han Dong-hoon today advocated for a vote on President Yoon’s impeachment, calling on the party’s lawmakers to vote based on their own “beliefs,” according to Yonhap.
In addition, PPP lawmaker Han Zee-a today said she would vote to support the parliament’s move to impeach Mr. Yoon over the declaration of martial law, according to Yonhap.
