South Korean police raided the office of President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday as part of an investigation into whether his declaration of martial law last week, which plunged the country into a political crisis, was insurrection.

At a parliamentary hearing, Jung Chung-rae, a legislator from the Opposition Democratic Party, said “the police are conducting a raid on the presidential office”. Jung is also chairman of the parliamentary committee that deals with judicial matters.

A police special investigation unit in charge of the investigation confirmed the raid and said it had also carried out search and seizure operations at several other offices: the Korean National Police Agency, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and the National Assembly Police Guards.

The authorities have barred Yoon from leaving the country, as prosecutors and the police try to determine whether he and his supporters in the military and the government committed insurrection when they ordered soldiers to enter the National Assembly. Yoon’s office was not immediately available to comment.

Yoon is the first sitting President of South Korea to face a criminal investigation, and he now faces the possibility of being arrested. The Opposition has accused Yoon ​of committing insurrection when he sent the troops to the Assembly to block lawmakers from voting against military rule. If Yoon is arrested, it is unclear what would happen to his role as the country’s leader. The Constitution only states that when the President is “unable to perform his or her duties for any reason”.

New York Times News Service