South Korean president apologises, saying he won't shirk responsibility for attempt at martial law
Seoul (AP/PTI): South Korea's president apologised Saturday for public anxiety caused by his short-lived attempt to impose martial law earlier this week hours ahead of a parliamentary vote on impeaching him.
Yoon Suk Yeol said in a brief televised address Saturday morning he won't shirk legal or political responsibility for the declaration and promised not to make another attempt to impose it.
He said he would leave it to his conservative political party to chart a course through the country's political turmoil, “including matters related to my term in office."
South Korean lawmakers are set to vote later Saturday on impeaching President Yoon over his short-lived attempt to impose martial law, as protests grew nationwide calling for his removal.
It wasn't immediately clear whether the motion submitted by opposition lawmakers would get the two-thirds majority required for Yoon to be impeached. But it appeared more likely after the leader of Yoon's own party on Friday called for suspending his constitutional powers, describing him as unfit to hold the office and capable of taking more extreme action, including renewed attempts to impose martial law.
Impeaching Yoon would require support from 200 of the National Assembly's 300 members. The opposition parties that jointly brought the impeachment motion have 192 seats combined.
That means they would need at least eight votes from Yoon's People Power Party. On Wednesday, 18 members of the PPP joined a vote that unanimously cancelled martial law 190-0 less than three hours after Yoon declared the measure on television, calling the opposition-controlled parliament a “den of criminals” bogging down state affairs.
The vote took place as hundreds of heavily-armed troops encircled the National Assembly in an attempt to disrupt the vote and possibly to detain key politicians.
Parliament said Saturday that it would meet at 5 pm. It will first vote on a bill appointing a special prosecutor to investigate influence peddling allegations surrounding Yoon's wife, and then on impeaching Yoon.
The turmoil resulting from Yoon's bizarre and poorly-thought-out stunt has paralyzed South Korean politics and sparked alarm among key diplomatic partners, including neighboring Japan and Seoul's top ally the United States, as one of the strongest democracies in Asia faces a political crisis that could unseat its leader.
Opposition lawmakers claim that Yoon's martial law declaration amounted to a self-coup and drafted the impeachment motion around rebellion charges.
The PPP decided to oppose impeachment at a lawmakers' meeting, despite pleas by its leader Han Dong-hun, who isn't a lawmaker and has no vote.
Following a party meeting on Friday, Han stressed the need to suspend Yoon's presidential duties and power swiftly, saying he "could potentially put the Republic of Korea and its citizens in great danger.”
Han said he had received intelligence that during the brief period of martial law Yoon ordered the country's defence counterintelligence commander to arrest and detain unspecified key politicians based on accusations of “anti-state activities."
Hong Jang-won, first deputy director of South Korea's National Intelligence Service, later told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing that Yoon called after imposing martial law and ordered him to help the defence counterintelligence unit to detain key politicians.
The targeted politicians included Han, opposition leader Lee Jae-myung and National Assembly speaker Woo Won Shik, according to Kim Byung-kee, one of the lawmakers who attended the meeting.
The Defence Ministry said it had suspended the defence counterintelligence commander, Yeo In-hyung, who Han alleged had received orders from Yoon to detain the politicians. The ministry also suspended Lee Jin-woo, commander of the capital defence command, and Kwak Jong-geun, commander of the special warfare command, over their involvement in enforcing martial law.
Former Defence Minister Kim Yong Hyun, who has been accused of recommending Yoon to enforce martial law, has been placed under a travel ban and faces an investigation by prosecutors over rebellion charges.
Vice Defence Minister Kim Seon Ho, who became acting defence minister after Yoon accepted Kim Yong Hyun's resignation on Thursday, has testified to parliament that it was Kim Yong Hyun who ordered troops to be deployed to the National Assembly after Yoon imposed martial law.
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Three company directors held in Rs 100-crore investment fraud in Kochi
Kochi (Kerala) (PTI): Police on Sunday arrested three directors of a firm accused of cheating hundreds of investors of over Rs 100 crore through a fake investment scheme linked to agricultural tourism here, officials said.
The accused were identified as Muraleedharan, Ashik Murali and Akhil Murali, all natives of Thrissur.
The arrests were made by the Kalamassery police in connection with a fraud involving ATCOS (Agri Tourism Cooperative Society), a firm headquartered at Pathadipalam here.
Police said the company had promised high returns by collecting investments from the public in the agricultural tourism sector, but allegedly cheated hundreds of people and fled with the money.
ATCOS was registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act and operated 13 branches across various districts in Kerala, besides a branch in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, officials said.
When investors failed to receive their promised returns or the invested amount, complaints were filed with the police.
Officials said around 54 cases have been registered against the firm in 32 police stations across the state, including 29 cases at the Kalamassery police station alone.
Following instructions from Kochi City Police Commissioner K S Mahesh Kumar, a special investigation team was formed under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Shehensha and Thrikkakara ACP Manoj Kumar.
The team traced the accused to an apartment in Amala Nagar in Thrissur, where they had been hiding after secretly renting the flat, officials said.
The bank accounts of the accused have been frozen, and steps have been initiated to trace their assets, officials said.
Police also conducted a raid at the company’s office at Pathadipalam and seized several documents related to the case.
The accused were produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kalamassery, which remanded them to judicial custody and sent them to Kakkanad jail.
Police said they would seek the custody of the accused for further interrogation as the investigation continues.
