South Korean authorities ban President Yoon Suk Yeol from traveling out of the country

South Korea's Justice Ministry announced that the president, Yoon Suk Yeol, is banned from leaving the country. It is expected that South Korean prosecutors will soon file charges against the conservative president in connection with the investigation opened against him for "insurrection." Yoon, in power since 2022, declared martial law the previous week, triggering a political crisis in the country.

Thus continues the process against the president, who survived the impeachment vote called by the opposition after the previous week's crisis. Although the Democratic Party of South Korea and its allies have a strong majority in Parliament, they lacked eight votes from pro-government deputies to see the impeachment motion prosper, which requires the support of two-thirds of the House.

In a third open front for President Yoon, his own party, People Power, has demanded that he leave the political party, as it strongly disagrees with his bold gesture of the previous week. Yoon declared martial law as he believes the opposition, which blocks the government in parliament, is thus collaborating with North Korea's "communist" enemies.

Yoon did not just call for martial law. The military deployed under his orders attempted to disrupt any voting and plenary sessions in the National Assembly, which led to clashes between protesters and parliamentarians against the uniformed men on the Parliament grounds. Despite everything, the National Assembly voted, as stipulated in the Constitution, in favor of revocating martial law, an order that Yoon accepted after several hours of deliberation with his Cabinet.

Yoon apologizes but does not resign

On Saturday, Yoon apologized to the nation in his first public comments since his thwarted attempt to impose martial law, acknowledging that it "caused anxiety and inconvenience" to South Korean citizens. "This emergency declaration of martial law came out of my desperation as the top official in charge of state affairs," Yoon said in a two-minute speech.

Former South Korean Defense Minister, Kim Yong-hyun, resigned from his position due to his involvement in deploying military forces to the Parliament grounds. Days later, the South Korean judiciary ordered his arrest and court appearance.

South Korean media reported that Kim showed up voluntarily at a Seoul prosecutor's office, where his cell phone was confiscated and he was detained. Police reportedly searched Kim's former office and residence on Sunday.

South Korea's interior minister, Lee Sang-min, resigned Sunday in the wake of the failed declaration of martial law that sparked a deep political crisis in the country, media reported.

Lee resigned "in grave recognition of his responsibility for failing to serve the citizenry and the president well," the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said.

Col. Kim Hyun-tae, head of the special forces of the 707th Special Missions Group, also stepped forward to publicly apologize. Kim Hyun-tae claimed that as head of the force, he went to the Parliament and ordered his troops to confront protesters and enter the National Assembly using non-lethal force. About 200 military personnel from South Korean special forces were deployed at the site along with more regular troops.