South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared emergency martial law on Tuesday, accusing the opposition of controlling parliament, sympathizing with North Korea, and engaging in anti-state activities that have paralyzed the government.
In a televised address, Yoon emphasized the necessity of this measure to defend the nation’s constitutional order.
“To safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements … I hereby declare emergency martial law,” Yoon said.
The immediate implications for governance and democracy remain uncertain.
“Through this martial law, I will rebuild and protect the free Republic of Korea, which is falling into the depths of national ruin,” Yoon said.
“I will eliminate anti-state forces as quickly as possible and normalize the country,” he said, while asking the people to believe in him and tolerate “some inconveniences.”
The speaker of the National Assembly in Seoul reportedly attempted to convene a parliamentary session following the president’s announcement. However, the Yonhap News Agency later reported that members of the National Assembly had been blocked from entering the building and that the military had suspended all parliamentary activity.
South Koreans Take to the Streets
Many took the streets late on Tuesday to protest the decision over fears it would grant the presidency far-reaching powers, including over the nation’s well armed military branches, although it was not immediately clear what Yoon intends to do next.
Yoon’s Own Party and Opposition Criticize Martial Law Move
The decision sparked swift backlash, even within Yoon’s own ranks. Han Dong-hoon, the leader of Yoon’s own conservative party People Power Party, condemned the move as “wrong” and pledged to “stop it with the people.”
Meanwhile, opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, who narrowly lost to Yoon in the 2022 presidential race, labeled the announcement “illegal and unconstitutional,” intensifying political tensions in an already polarized climate.
In a livestreamed broadcast on YouTube, Lee said: “From this moment on, President Yoon Seok Yeol is not the president of the Republic of Korea.
“We cannot allow the military to govern this country.”
Lee called on members of the public to gather at the National Assembly, Yonhap reported.
In a swift response to Yoon’s latest move, the Democratic Party convened an emergency meeting with its lawmakers.
Yoon’s Domestic Challenges
Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has faced challenges advancing his agenda due to an opposition-controlled parliament.
INTERVIEW: South Korea’s President Yoon on Balancing Defense and Domestic Reforms
Yoon’s People Power Party found itself at odds with the liberal opposition Democratic Party over the contentious 2024 budget bill.
Ahn Young-joon/AP
The impasse deepened as Yoon dismissed mounting demands for independent investigations into scandals tied to his wife and high-ranking officials—an act that sparked swift and sharp criticism from his political adversaries.
Newsweek has contact the South Korean Embassy in Washington D.C. and the State Department for comment.
What Is Martial Law?
Martial law is the temporary imposition of direct military control over normal civilian functions or government, usually in response to an emergency such as war, natural disaster, or widespread civil unrest. Under martial law, military authorities assume control of an area, often suspending ordinary laws, civil liberties, and constitutional protections.
Martial law was declared in Thailand in 2014 following months of political unrest, which eventually led to a coup.
Has South Korea Ever Previously Declared Martial Law?
Yoon’s shock announcement puts South Korea’s society in a position it has not experienced for more than three decades, since sweeping pro-democracy demonstrations led to political reforms in the late 1980s.
Before World War II, decades of martial law was imposed on the then Japanese colony and protests were quashed by military force. After gaining independence in 1948, South Korea again found itself under martial law amid the Korean War of 1950-1953. Strict rule over the population continued even after an armistice was brokered by the United States.
In the 1960s and 1970s, military leaders sat atop South Korea’s executive branch and stifled dissent with emergency decrees and national security laws, rubber-stamped in the name of maintaining political stability amid a prolonged Cold War standoff with the Soviet-backed North.
South Korea’s democratic transition came in the years after the student-led protests of 1980, later described by scholars as Korea’s Tiananmen for the brutal military crackdown that ensued, in reference to the mass demonstrations centered on Chinese capital Beijing in 1989.
The government in Seoul eventually agreed to hold open and direct presidential elections in 1987.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
