Key Points
- South Korea’s president has agreed to lift an earlier declaration of martial law.
- MPs gathered shortly after the announcement to unanimously oppose the move.
- President Yoon Suk Yeol says command forces have withdrawn, adding that a cabinet meeting will be held soon.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will lift a shock martial law declaration he had imposed just hours before, backing down in a standoff with parliament which roundly rejected his attempt to ban political activity and censor the media.
Yoon announced the declaration in a televised address late on Tuesday night (local time) to thwart “anti-state forces”, with 190 MPs gathering in the early hours of Wednesday to block it.
Under South Korean law, the president must immediately lift martial law if parliament demands it by a majority vote. His own party urged him to lift the decree.
The National Assembly was sealed late on Tuesday night, and helicopters were seen landing on the roof.
Troops briefly tried to enter the parliament building. Parliamentary aides were seen trying to push the soldiers back by spraying fire extinguishers.
National Assembly staff sprayed fire extinguishers to block soldiers from entering the building’s main hall. Source: AAP / Jo Da-un/AP
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside parliament chanting “arrest Yoon Suk Yeol” and faced off with security forces guarding parliament.
After the parliament voted to lift martial law, the National Assembly speaker Woo Won-Shik declared that MPs would “protect democracy with the people” and called for police and military personnel to withdraw from the assembly’s grounds.
Following the parliamentary vote, Yoon agreed to lift martial law and said command forces had withdrawn, adding that a cabinet meeting would be held as soon as possible.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s travel advice service, Smartraveller, released an update on Wednesday morning advising that “the situation in South Korea is evolving due to developments in domestic politics”.
It recommended Australians in South Korea “avoid protests and demonstrations”, monitor the media for updates and follow the advice of local authorities.
It said the Australian embassy in Seoul remains open but is not offering in-person services.
What is martial law?
Martial law is the temporary introduction of military authority to an area.
South Korea’s constitution says its president can declare martial law when it’s considered necessary to cope with a military threat or maintain public safety.
South Korean Police stand guard at the National Assembly as hundreds of protesters gather outside. Source: Getty / Chung Sung-Jun
When martial law is declared in South Korea, the martial law commander, appointed by the president, has authority over all administrative and judicial matters.
They have the power to take actions related to arrests of persons, search and seizure, speech and the press, and assembly.
After Yoon declared martial law, army chief General Park An-su took charge as martial law commander and immediately issued a decree banning “all political activities”.
The imposition of emergency martial law came after President Yoon Suk Yeol’s approval rating dropped to 19 per cent in a poll last week. Credit: Chung Sung-Jun / Getty Images
The decree also targeted the media and publishers, banning “actions that deny or seek to overthrow the liberal democratic system, including the spread of fake news, public opinion manipulation, and false propaganda”.
The president must notify the National Assembly of the decision when declaring martial law, and it must be reviewed by the cabinet.
Why did Yoon Suk Yeol declare martial law?
Yoon gave a range of reasons to justify his announcement — South Korea’s first declaration of martial law in more than 40 years.
“To safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements plundering people’s freedom and happiness, I hereby declare emergency martial law,” he said during his live televised address to the nation.
Yoon did not cite any specific threat from the North, instead focusing on his domestic political opponents, but the South remains technically at war with the nuclear-armed North.
“Our National Assembly has become a haven for criminals, a den of legislative dictatorship that seeks to paralyse the judicial and administrative systems and overturn our liberal democratic order,” Yoon said.
He labelled the opposition, which holds a majority in the 300-member parliament, as “anti-state forces intent on overthrowing the regime”.
Yoon described the imposition of martial law as “inevitable to guarantee the continuity of a liberal South Korea”, adding that it would not impact the country’s foreign policy.
He described the current situation as South Korea “on the verge of collapse, with the National Assembly acting as a monster intent on bringing down liberal democracy”.
President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on Tuesday night. Source: AAP, AP / AP
What has the response been?
South Korea’s main opposition party has accused Yoon of insurrection and demanded he resign or face impeachment.
“Even if martial law is lifted, he cannot avoid treason charges,” senior Democratic Party member Park Chan-dae said in a statement.
“It was clearly revealed to the entire nation that President Yoon could no longer run the country normally. He should step down.”
Han Dong-hoon, the leader of Yoon’s own People Power Party, said the president “must directly and thoroughly explain this tragic situation” in a televised broadcast, adding that “all those responsible must be held strictly accountable”.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s largest umbrella labour union has called an “indefinite general strike” until Yoon resigns.
The 1.2 million-member Korean Confederation of Trade Unions accused Yoon of an “irrational and anti-democratic measure”, saying he had “declared the end of (his) own power”.
What led to this point?
Yoon, a career prosecutor, squeezed out a victory in the tightest presidential election in South Korean history in 2022.
He rode a wave of discontent over economic policy, scandals and gender wars, aiming to reshape the political future of Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
But he has been unpopular, with his support ratings hovering at around 20 per cent for months.
Yoon’s People Power Party suffered a landslide defeat at a parliamentary election in April this year, ceding control of the unicameral assembly to opposition parties that captured nearly two-thirds of the seats.
His party and the main opposition Democratic Party are bitterly at odds over next year’s budget.
Opposition MPs approved a significantly downsized budget plan through a parliamentary committee last week.
The opposition has slashed approximately 4.1 trillion won ($4.5 billion) from Yoon’s proposed 677 trillion won ($736 billion) budget plan, cutting the government’s reserve fund and activity budgets for Yoon’s office, the prosecution, police and the state audit agency.
In his address on Tuesday night, Yoon also cited a motion by the Democratic Party this week to impeach some of the country’s top prosecutors.
