Yoon Suk-yeol’s key aide arrested as South Korea’s martial law inquiry widens
Early on Friday, the Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for Lee Sang-min, Yoon’s former interior minister, citing concerns over potential destruction of evidence.
Lee, 60, was taken into custody immediately and is now being held at the same detention centre as Yoon, who was rearrested on July 10 in connection with the controversial decree that plunged the country into a constitutional crisis.
Jung Suk-koo, former executive editor of the progressive Hankyoreh daily, said Lee and former defence minister Kim Yong-hyun – who was arrested in December – were pivotal to Yoon’s alleged attempt at a self-coup.

“Through the former defence minister overseeing the military and the home minister commanding the police, Yoon mobilised both soldiers and police in a failed bid to seize the National Assembly,” Jung told This Week in Asia.