South Korea imposes travel ban on senior military officials

The military prosecution has pledged to actively cooperate with investigators handling the martial law case, Yonhap says

The South Korean prosecutor’s office has requested travel bans for ten senior military officials, the Yonhap news agency reported.

According to the agency, prosecutors submitted a relevant petition to the Ministry of Justice.

The list includes the Head of the General Staff, Park An-su, who was tasked with overseeing martial law, as well as Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung, chief of the Army Special Warfare Command Kwak Jong-keun, and Chief of the Capital Defense Command Lee Jin-woo.

All officers, except for the Head of the General Staff, were suspended from duty last Friday.

The other military officials on the list are heads of various army units involved in enforcing martial law measures.

The military prosecution has pledged to actively cooperate with investigators handling the martial law case, Yonhap says.

In the evening of December 3, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law for the first time in 45 years, accusing the opposition of attempting to paralyze the executive branch, but he rescinded the measure six hours later.

On December 4, the opposition initiated impeachment proceedings, arguing that Yoon Suk Yeol violated the constitution as there were no grounds for declaring martial law.

The vote on impeachment is expected to take place on December 7.

The leader of the ruling People’s Power Party, which controls 108 seats in parliament, stated that the president’s powers should be suspended.

A total of 200 votes out of 300 are required for impeachment. A petition for impeachment has been submitted by 191 opposition lawmakers.

The moot question is can the military disobey the orders of a constitutionally and legally installed Commander in Chief or should they have ?