Seoul: The National Assembly on Thursday approved a motion to arrest Rep. Choo Kyung-ho, former floor leader of the People Power Party (PPP), over his alleged role in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's botched martial law bid. This decision marks a significant development in the ongoing investigation into the martial law attempt.
According to Yonhap News Agency, a special counsel team had earlier filed for an arrest warrant for Choo on charges of playing a key role in an insurrection. He is accused of obstructing PPP lawmakers from participating in a parliamentary vote aimed at lifting Yoon's martial law decree. By law, sitting lawmakers are granted immunity from arrest while parliament is in session; however, they can be arrested with the consent of the National Assembly.
The arrest motion was passed with a decisive 172-4 vote, including two abstentions and two invalid ballots, during a parliamentary plenary session. It is notable that all PPP lawmakers, including Choo himself, boycotted the vote. Following the motion's passage, a court is anticipated to hold a hearing early next month to determine whether the arrest warrant will be issued.
Choo, who was once seen as a key ally of Yoon, is alleged to have repeatedly changed the location of an emergency party meeting on the night of December 3, coinciding with the declaration of martial law by the now-ousted leader. The special counsel team, led by Cho Eun-suk, suspects that Choo deliberately changed the venue at Yoon's behest.
In a statement before the National Assembly ahead of the vote, Choo denied the allegations, describing them as a "political maneuver" intended to dissolve the PPP. He asserted, "I never asked any lawmaker of our party to not participate in the vote to lift martial law that day."
Choo has a history of service under the former Yoon administration, where he served as the first finance minister before stepping into the role of the PPP's floor leader. He resigned from the leadership position shortly after Yoon's brief imposition of martial law.