Yoon passed his decree regarding martial law in a surprise late night address this Tuesday, December 3rd. He had done so “to safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements,” (CNN) locking down all political action in the country.
He had called out the opposing party, the Democratic Party, claiming they have “paralyzed state affairs and turned the National Assembly into a den of criminals,” (CNN), acting as North Korean “agents” to cause chaos in the state. This accusation is partially due to the fact that the Democratic Party is the majority in the South Korean parliament compared to Yoon’s own party, the People Power Party. The two parties heavily debated heavily over next year’s budget bill and the Democratic Party has tried to impeach some of People Power Party’s top officials.
The decree allows arrests without a warrant, and prohibits all political activities in the country, additionally prohibiting fake news and any protests. Following the announcement, the country descended into chaos, in protest over this unexpected decision. “Walking through the streets, there are people who are running to their families’ homes to be with them, to figure out what to do, to be close to loved ones in this moment that is unprecedented in so many of our memories,” reports Mike Valerio in Seoul.
According to Kim Tong-Hyung for the Associated Press, “Soon after martial law was declared, the parliament speaker called on his YouTube channel for all lawmakers to gather at the National Assembly.”
190 lawmakers out of all 300 gathered in South Korea’s National Assembly, to vote on a bill to bypass the martial law, reversing it. In the country’s constitution, it states that the martial law decree can be bypassed by a majority voice in the parliament. There was a military crackdown on the main parliamentary building, “Television footage showed police officers blocking the entrance of the National Assembly and helmeted soldiers carrying rifles in front of the building,” told the Associated press.
The vote was successful, with all 190 lawmakers that gathered there voting for the bill. The military withdrawed shortly after the vote, the citizens who gathered outside, waiting for the vote results shouted, “Long live the Republic of Korea!” and Yoon Suk-yeol, step down!”
The martial law lasted for about 6 hours, but it did have major effects. The Korean won, the currency in South Korea plunged against the US dollar, becoming weaker than the US dollar, although it did somewhat recover following the martial law reversal.
The drastic actions taken by South Korea’s president rang international alarms. It turned eyes to South Korea, worrying other nations in a world already full of conflict. “The United States was watching events in South Korea with a ‘grave concern’,” U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told Reuters.
Yoon Suk Yeol’s decision to enact martial law, unpopular even among his own party, now can potentially cause his impeachment, as many citizens, both civilians and policy makers call for his removal
