South Korea is reeling after a whiplash eight hours during which the country\u2019s embattled president declared martial law but was forced to lift it amid widespread condemnation, throwing the country\u2019s political landscape into chaos and uncertainty. <\/p>\n
The saga began unfolding Tuesday night as most South Koreans prepared to go to sleep \u2013 prompting furious lawmakers to force their way past soldiers into parliament to strike down the decree, as protesters demanded President Yoon Suk Yeol\u2019s removal and no return to the country\u2019s painful authoritarian past. <\/p>\n
By dawn, the president had caved \u2013 agreeing to lift martial law. <\/p>\n
But questions are still swirling around the future of Yoon\u2019s presidency, his party\u2019s rule, and what happens next in one of the world\u2019s most important economies and a major United States ally. <\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what we know. <\/p>\n
Yoon declared martial law around 10:30 p.m. local time Tuesday in an unannounced late-night TV address, accusing the country\u2019s main opposition party of sympathizing with North Korea and of \u201canti-state\u201d activities. <\/p>\n
He also cited a motion by the opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament, to impeach top prosecutors and reject a government budget proposal. <\/p>\n
Martial law refers to granting the military temporary rule during an emergency, which the president has the constitutional ability to declare. But the announcement hit like a bombshell, sending shock waves through a democratic nation and sparking an astonishing late-night political showdown. <\/p>\n
In a nation with a strong contemporary tradition of free speech, Yoon\u2019s military decree banned all political activities, including protests, rallies, and actions by political parties, according to Yonhap news agency. It also prohibited \u201cdenying free democracy or attempting a subversion,\u201d and \u201cmanipulating public opinion.\u201d <\/p>\n
In the end, the decree only lasted a few hours. <\/p>\n
Lawmakers flocked to the parliament, pushing their way past soldiers who had been deployed to keep the building blocked off. <\/p>\n
In an extraordinary emergency late-night meeting, those present voted unanimously to block the decree, a vote the president is legally bound to obey. <\/p>\n
The country\u2019s political blocs came together to oppose Yoon\u2019s decree \u2013 including members of his own party, with the party chief apologizing to the public and demanding an explanation from the president. <\/p>\n
By 4:30 a.m., Yoon announced he would comply and lift the martial law order, saying he had withdrawn the troops deployed earlier in the night. But he doubled down on accusations that the opposition party was frustrating the moves of his government, urging lawmakers to stop their \u201clegislative manipulation.\u201d <\/p>\n
Yoon\u2019s cabinet voted to lift the decree soon after. <\/p>\n
South Korea has been in a bitter political stalemate for months, with the country\u2019s liberal opposition parties winning a parliamentary majority in April. The election was widely seen as a referendum on Yoon, whose popularity has plummeted thanks to a number of scandals and controversies since he took office in 2022. <\/p>\n
Yoon, a conservative, has clashed with the opposition on many of his policies that require legislation, preventing him from moving forward on campaign promises to cut taxes and ease business regulations. <\/p>\n
He has also grown increasingly frustrated with the opposition\u2019s efforts to impeach government figures, some of whom he\u2019d appointed \u2013 including the chair of the broadcasting watchdog, the chair of the state auditor, and several top prosecutors, according to Yonhap. <\/p>\n
The prosecutors in particular are a sore point for Yoon. Opposition lawmakers argue they failed to indict Yoon\u2019s wife, the first lady \u2013 who has been embroiled in scandal and accusations of stock manipulation. <\/p>\n
Outrage, shock and confusion ran through the country \u2013 and the world \u2013 in the immediate aftermath of the decree. <\/p>\n
Late Tuesday night, residents in the capital Seoul rushed to be with their family members, while others gathered in front of the parliament building, where law enforcement told some they could be arrested without warrants. <\/p>\n
Many protesters carried signs and flags calling for Yoon\u2019s impeachment. <\/p>\n
Some members of parliament appeared to clash with authorities outside the parliament building, with television footage showing troops attempting to enter the main hall \u2013 though they began withdrawing a few hours later when lawmakers blocked the decree. <\/p>\n
The US voiced \u201cgrave concern\u201d after Yoon declared martial law, and expressed relief after he lifted the decree \u2013 saying democracy was at the core of the US-South Korea alliance. <\/p>\n
The two countries have a decades-old mutual defense treaty, which means both must come to the aid of the other if they are ever attacked. <\/p>\n
Key US military installations dot South Korea, and there are nearly 30,000 American troops stationed in the country. <\/p>\n
The US Army\u2019s Camp Humphreys is the largest American military installation outside of the US, with a population of more than 41,000 US service members, civilian workers, contractors and family members. <\/p>\n
Alongside Japan and the Philippines, which also have mutual defense treaties with the US, South Korea is part of a trio of regional partners that have helped to bolster American power in both Asia and the Pacific for decades. <\/p>\n
Advocates argue that a significant US troop presence in the Korean Peninsula is crucial to deterring any potential attack from North Korea as Kim Jong Un\u2019s regime continues to build its nuclear arsenal, and as a way of bolstering the US presence in the region to counter China\u2019s aggression. <\/p>\n
North Korea has also become a key player in Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine by sending troops to help fight for Moscow\u2019s forces, bringing an isolated Asian power into Europe\u2019s largest conflict since the Second World War. <\/p>\n
There\u2019s a lot that\u2019s still uncertain \u2013 including what will happen to the president and other top leaders. <\/p>\n
Yoon\u2019s chief of staff and more than 10 senior secretaries to the president have submitted their resignations, according to the president\u2019s office. <\/p>\n
The main opposition party said it would begin impeachment proceedings if Yoon didn\u2019t step down immediately, calling his actions unconstitutional. <\/p>\n
The chief of Yoon\u2019s own party has also called for the removal of the defense minister for recommending martial law. <\/p>\n
South Korea\u2019s largest umbrella union also said on Wednesday its members would go on an indefinite general strike until Yoon resigns. <\/p>\n
As of Wednesday morning, there remains a heavy police presence at the parliamentary building. Yoon postponed his first public scheduled meeting that morning, Yonhap reported. <\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t the first time he has faced calls for impeachment \u2013 with regular protests calling for his resignation, and a petition that received hundreds of thousands of signatures, Reuters reported. <\/p>\n
Yes \u2013 especially given the country\u2019s long, painful crawl toward democracy after decades of authoritarian rule. <\/p>\n
South Korea has been a vibrant democracy since the 1980s, with regular protests, free speech, fair elections and peaceful transfers of power. The domestic political scene has long been fractious, with presidents on both sides of the political divide often facing prosecutions while in and out of office. <\/p>\n
Martial law is unheard of in the modern democratic era, which has seen South Korea become a major exporter and a cultural powerhouse, thanks in part to the huge global popularity of K-pop and K-drama. <\/p>\n
But South Korea has a dark political past. Throughout much of the Cold War, the country went through a series of strongman leaders and military rulers, who declared martial law multiple times \u2013 sometimes in a bid to hold onto power amid growing public dissatisfaction. <\/p>\n
At the time, protests could easily turn deadly, with the military deployed to crack down on those pushing back. <\/p>\n
The last time a South Korean president declared martial law was in 1980, during a nationwide uprising led by students and labor unions. It wasn\u2019t until 1988 that South Korea elected a president through free and direct elections. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s why protesters Tuesday and Wednesday held signs and chanted slogans vowing to never go back to dictatorial rule, the memory of which remains fresh in many people\u2019s minds. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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