SEOUL—
South Korea's Army Chief of Staff Gen. Park An-su, who served as the chief
commander during President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived imposition of martial
law, was arrested on Tuesday, prosecutors said.
Park was arrested on a court-issued warrant on charges of
playing a key role in an insurrection and abuse of power.
He became the fifth key figure who was arrested over Yoon's
December 3 failed bid to impose martial law.
So far, former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun, Lt Gen Yeo
In-hyung, head of the Defence Counterintelligence Command, Lt Gen Kwak
Jong-keun, head of the Army Special Warfare Command, and Lt Gen Lee Jin-woo,
head of the Capital Defence Command, have been arrested.
On December 9, South Korean prosecutors investigating
alleged treason following President Yoon's short-lived martial law imposition
questioned Gen Park, who had been named to lead the martial law command.
Park was grilled by prosecutors as a witness at the Seoul
Central District Prosecutors Office for about eight hours from 6 p.m. Sunday to
2 a.m. on December 9.
Prosecutors have called in Park and other military leaders
who were under the command of former Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun during
martial law enforcement on December 3 before planning to request an arrest warrant
for Kim on treason and abuse of power charges.
Kim, who was put under emergency detention on December 6,
was a central figure in Yoon's abrupt martial law declaration that lasted six
hours before being withdrawn due to a National Assembly vote against it.
Park told a National Assembly session on December 5 that he
was not aware of the martial law declaration in advance.
Prosecutors reportedly asked the Army Chief what
instructions and orders he received from whom before and after the martial law
declaration and what roles he played in the process of distributing the martial
law proclamation and deploying martial law troops.
On December 14, the National Assembly voted to impeach
President Yoon Suk Yeol over his botched imposition of martial law, suspending
him from his duties until the Constitutional Court decides whether to reinstate
him or remove him from office, with citizens cheering over his impeachment.
The impeachment motion against Yoon passed 204-85, with
three abstentions and eight invalid ballots, after all 300 members of the
Assembly cast their votes.
