The fallout from South Korea's martial law deepens as prosecutors focus on the president and former defense minister

South Korea's leadership crisis escalated on Sunday as prosecutors announced President Yoon Suk Yeol was under criminal investigation for last week's martial law attempt, according to a media report, while his former defense minister was arrested.

Yoon survived an impeachment vote in the opposition-led parliament late on Saturday, prompted by his short-lived attempt to impose martial law on Tuesday, but the leader of his own party said the president would effectively be excluded from his duties before eventually stepping down, News.Az reports citing the Reuters.

That proposal, which appeared to win tacit approval from the Yoon-appointed prime minister on Sunday, drew condemnation from opposition lawmakers who said it was another unconstitutional power grab to delegate authority without resignation or impeachment.
Thousands of people rallied in front of the parliament in Seoul on Sunday, calling for the impeachment and arrest of Yoon and the disbandment of his ruling party.

Yoon's martial law declaration on Tuesday plunged Asia's fourth-largest economy and a key U.S. military ally into its greatest political crisis in decades, threatening to shatter South Korea's reputation as a democratic success story.

The leader of Yoon's People Power Party, Han Dong-hoon, told a press conference alongside the prime minister on Sunday that Yoon would not be involved in foreign and other state affairs before his early resignation.

News.Az