South Korea’s President Yoon Reverses Martial Law After Lawmakers Defy Him
In South Korea’s biggest political crisis in decades, Yoon shocked the nation and declared martial law on Tuesday night to thwart “anti-state forces” among his domestic political opponents. But outraged lawmakers unanimously rejected the decree. Yonhap news agency said the cabinet had agreed early on Wednesday to scrap the martial law.
Protesters outside the National Assembly parliament shouted and clapped. “We won!” they chanted, and one demonstrator banged on a drum.
The main opposition Democratic Party called for Yoon, who has been in office since 2022, to resign or face impeachment.
“South Korea as a nation dodged a bullet, but President Yoon may have shot himself in the foot,” said Danny Russel, vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute think tank in the United States.
“Even if martial law is lifted, he cannot avoid treason charges. It was clearly revealed to the entire nation that President Yoon could no longer run the country normally. He should step down,” senior DP member of parliament Park Chan-dae said in a statement.
The South Korean won currency came off a more than two-year low against the dollar after Yoon’s reversal, while exchange traded funds linked to South Korean stocks similarly cut losses.
Yoon’s surprise declaration of martial law, which he cast as aimed at his political foes, was voted down by 190 lawmakers in parliament. His own party urged him to lift the decree. Under South Korean law, the president must immediately lift martial law if parliament demands it by a majority vote.
The crisis in a country that has been a democracy since the 1980s, and is a U.S. ally and major Asian economy, caused international alarm.
U.S. RELIEVED
After Yoon’s announcement of martial law in a TV address, South Korea’s military had said activities by parliament and political parties would be banned, and that media and publishers would be under the control of the martial law command.
