Pyongyang, North Korea - South Korea's ex-defense minister is facing accusations of trying to start a military confrontation with the North as part of President Yoon Suk Yeol's plot to impose martial law.

Kim Yong-hyun, the former defense minister who was arrested on Tuesday, has been accused by opposition lawmakers of calling for strikes on sites from which North Korea has for months been launching balloons carrying trash, an order reportedly refused by his subordinates.

He also allegedly ordered drones sent to the North Korean capital of Pyongyang in an apparent attempt to provoke a conflict as a pretext for declaring martial law.

Yoon suspended civilian rule on Tuesday last week and sent special forces and helicopters to parliament, vowing to safeguard South Korea "from the threats posed by North Korea's communist forces and eliminate anti-state elements plundering people's freedom and happiness."

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South Korean lawmakers managed against the odds to vote against the decree, narrowly foiling his attempted coup even as soldiers tried to block them from entering the parliament.

Kim has reportedly attempted to take his own life while being held in custody.

In its first reaction to the debacle, North Korean state made on Wednesday said Seoul is in "chaos."

"The shocking incident of the puppet Yoon Suk Yeol, who is facing impeachment and a governance crisis, suddenly declaring a martial law decree and unhesitatingly wielding the guns and knives of its fascist dictatorship wrought chaos across South Korea," a commentary read.

"The international community is sternly watching, with assessments that the martial law incident exposed vulnerabilities in South Korean society," it added.

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"Commentators described Yoon's abrupt declaration of martial law as a desperate move and that Yoon Suk Yeol's political life could face an early end."

Yoon survived an impeachment motion in parliament on Saturday, even as tens of thousands of South Koreans braved freezing temperatures outside to demand his ouster. The opposition plans to bring another motion to impeach Yoon to a vote on Saturday.