Crisis in Korea: President Yoon withdraws military forces and announces the end of martial law
A few hours after declaring a state of emergency, the conservative leader lifts the martial law order after facing opposition from the Parliament and the international community.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol makes a televised announcement.
It has been just over six hours since martial law was declared in South Korea. After the conservative president and leader of the People Power party, Yoon Suk Yeol, declared a state of emergency, the National Assembly voted to repeal it. Yoon, who accused the opposition of leading the country to ruin, ended up accepting the mandate of the Legislative Power.
At around 4:30 a.m. Seoul time, it was announced that military troops were withdrawing from their positions in the South Korean capital and that President Yoon Suk Yeol accepted the revocation voted in Parliament.
At that time, Yoon Suk Yeol announced that as soon as his cabinet members reached a quorum, he would absolutely end the state of military emergency. This occurred at around 5:20 am Seoul time.
Hours earlier, the representatives who managed to gain access to a hemicycle invaded by special operations troops voted against martial law. They were 190 of the 300 parliamentarians. 192 is the number of those who are part of the opposition, which controls the unicameral legislative system and has Yoon's Executive -108 deputies- against the ropes in the Parliament.
Outside the plenary hall, a crowd of demonstrators clashed with the military who accessed the perimeter of the National Assembly under orders of the Martial Law Command. While the uniformed men clumsily tried to gain access to the Parliament, the representatives did the same, jumping the fences to go to vote at the extraordinary emergency session called by the president of the House, Woo Won-shik.
The parliamentarians locked themselves in the plenary hall of the National Assembly as soon as they had access to it.
The process was as expected for this type of situation. The South Korean president, head of state and chief executive figure, has the power to declare martial law, which then has to be repealed by the Legislature. This was not the case. Parliament's refusal is a binding vote, which the president has to abide by as mandated by the South Korean Constitution.
Military assault on the Legislative Branch
It is unclear to what extent Yoon Suk Yeol intended to put the constitutional system in jeopardy by deploying military forces to Parliament.
Following Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement, at 11:00 pm, the Military Command for Martial Law announced a series of emergency measures whereby "political activities, including those of the National Assembly, local councils, political parties, and political associations, rallies and demonstrations" were declared banned.
According to Yonhap news agency, Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun ordered a meeting with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Kim Myung-soo, after which Yoon appointed Army Chief of Staff Park An-su as martial law commander.
Background to the declaration of martial law
Conservative Yoon Suk Yeol became head of state after winning the 2022 election, after which polls gave were giving worse overall ratings of his administration.
As of this year, the situation of the People's Power party government worsened when the National Assembly elections consolidated the majority of the opposition, led by Lee Jae-myung's Democratic Party.
During the inaugural session of the 2024 legislature, Yoon Suk Yeol refused to give the traditional speech in front of parliamentarians, a further sign of the deterioration in relations between the executive and the legislative branch.
Meanwhile, the government of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo -appointed by Yoon - was constantly unable to carry out major reforms because it did not have a majority in the House. This situation led to the failure to pass a satisfactory budget law, replaced by a meager interim budget approved by the opposition without the support of the government.
The progressive-liberal opposition took advantage of this blocking position to further deteriorate the image of Yoon Suk Yeol, whom they cannot remove from office for lack of the necessary support of two-thirds of the House - 200 parliamentarians - to push through an impeachment to the end.
South Korea's military withdraws from parliament.
The United States called for respect for Parliament
The White House, throughout Tuesday, said it was watching the situation in South Korea with concern and attention. For the United States, Seoul is a key ally in the Pacific, which has become the main theater of geopolitical struggle between the West and China.
The State Department issued the statements after the South Korean National Assembly voted against martial law. As picked up by AFP, the State Department spokesman said he expects South Korean authorities to respect the congressmen's vote to rescind the martial law imposed by President Yoon Suk Yeol.
"We certainly hope that the laws and regulations of each country will be respected. That includes the National Assembly vote," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.
The US stance may have been crucial to Yoon's backtracking on this bid against the legislative branch, which may earn him his seat in the future.
This adventure, which the opposition calls a coup d'état, could be reason enough to call for an impeachment against President Yoon. The opposition needs only eight more votes for the impeachment to succeed, as it needs two thirds of the votes, i.e. 200 out of 300.
If the impeachment is approved, it would be in the hands of the Constitutional Court of the country. A two-thirds vote in favor is “a sine qua non” condition for impeachment.
LATEST
