South Korean authorities have slapped travel bans on two former acting presidents as part of an investigation into alleged insurrection linked to ex-leader Yoon Suk-yeol’s martial law bid last year, according to local reports.
Police barred former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and ex-Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok from travelling abroad in mid-May as they underwent investigation as suspects in the insurrection case, the Yonhap news agency reported on Tuesday.
Yoon, who served as president for three years, declared emergency martial law in December 2024, claiming that antistate and North Korean forces had infiltrated the government, deploying troops onto the streets of the capital.
The declaration was revoked hours later by parliament, thrusting South Korea into an unprecedented constitutional crisis that involved both Han and Choi serving as acting presidents.
The former acting presidents were questioned on Monday by a special police unit over the role they had played in Yoon’s short-lived martial law.
Since his impeachment, there have been questions over whether they had resisted the move as they claimed.
June election
Yoon was formally stripped of office last month, with a judge at South Korea’s Constitutional Court ruling that he had overstepped his authority by deploying troops in the capital.
Senior military and police officials testified they were ordered to detain rival politicians.
The former president is currently on trial on insurrection charges, potentially facing life in prison or the country’s maximum penalty: the death sentence.
If found guilty, he would become the third South Korean president to be convicted of insurrection after two military leaders in connection with a 1979 coup.
South Koreans go to the polls next week to elect Yoon’s successor, capping months of political turmoil since the martial law declaration.
Han attempted to win the ruling conservative People Power Party’s presidential nomination, but was forced to drop out this month after internecine disputes, which led to rival Kim Moon-soo being chosen.
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