The heads of the National Police Agency and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency were arrested early in the morning

Police arrested National Police Agency chief Cho Ji-ho and Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency chief Kim Bong-sik in the early hours of Wednesday (December 11) in connection with the emergency martial law, following the formal arrest of former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyeon.

The Yonhap news Agency reported that the Special Investigation team, which is in charge of investigating the emergency martial law incident, said Cho Ji-ho and Kim Bong-sik were arrested without an arrest warrant on suspicion of rebellion at around 3:50 a.m. (2:50 a.m., Singapore time on Wednesday).

Under South Korea's emergency arrest rules, police have 48 hours to detain and question suspects.

Cho Ji-ho and Kim Bong-sik have been questioned for about 10 hours at the National Police Agency and the Seoul Police Agency, respectively, since the afternoon of October 10.

Reports say the two senior police officers allegedly instructed police to lock down the parliament building to prevent lawmakers from entering parliament to vote to overturn the emergency martial law. Cho is suspected of sending police officers to the National Election Commission to assist the military in enforcing emergency martial law.

Cho Ji-ho and Kim Bong-sik are both barred from leaving the country.

A South Korean court spokesman announced early Wednesday that former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyeon has been formally arrested on charges of rebellion in connection with the emergency martial law.

Kim Longxian is the first person to be arrested since the emergency began seven days ago. President Yoon Seok-yoon suddenly declared emergency martial law late at night on December 3, plunging the country into chaos. Kim has been detained by authorities since August 8.