The martial law that lasted six hours: 5 keys to understanding what is happening in South Korea

LOOK: South Korea: opposition demands the resignation of Yoon Suk-yeol after declaration of martial law

“The National Assembly, which should have been the basis of free democracy, has become a monster that destroys it,” the president said at night in an unexpected televised statement that quickly caused chaos.

According to Yoon, martial law would help “rebuild and protect” the country from “falling into the depths of national ruin” and would allow “safeguarding a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by communist forces in North Korea.” as well as “eliminate anti-state elements that plunder the freedom and happiness of the people.”

The announcement sparked clashes between protesters and police at the doors of the National Assembly, where phrases such as “Let’s end martial law” and “Stop martial law” were chanted. Yoon Suk Yeol! Some of the citizens tried to enter the building while the agents tried to prevent them, television images showed.

Not long after, opposition lawmakers voted to stop the decree, as provided for in the Constitution, and after internal and external criticism, Yoon finally addressed the country again in the early morning to revoke, after an extraordinary meeting of his government, the martial law which he had declared six hours ago.

These are some of the keys to understanding the crisis that broke out in South Korea.

1. The president vs. the opposition

Since coming to power in 2022 in a tight election, Yoon has maintained a confrontation with the opposition that today has a majority in Parliament. The president has repeatedly denounced a political stagnation that has hindered his mandate.

For this reason, the president decided to decree martial law by denouncing that the opposition repeatedly uses its majority in the National Assembly to dismiss members of his cabinet and block the approval of his government’s budget plans.

In fact, Yoon’s announcement came after the main opposition bloc, the Democratic Party (PD), approved without the support of the ruling People’s Power Party (PPP) general budgets for 2025 with multiple cuts, in addition to motions to dismiss the attorney general and the person responsible for monitoring the accounts of public organizations.

Carlos Aquino, coordinator of the Center for Asian Studies (CEAS) at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, believes that this situation led Yoon to take a desperate measure. “He accuses the opposition of obstructing State action. And not only that, he also mentioned that there have been more than 20 notions to censor ministers and said that it is not possible to work like this and that, since there is a permanent threat from the North, these forces that try to obstruct the good work of the State are colluding with the forces from abroad,” he tells El Comercio.

2. Martial Law

The president of South Korea has the power to proclaim martial law when “necessary to meet military necessity or to maintain public security and order by mobilizing military forces in times of war, armed conflict or emergency.” similar national”, as stated in the Constitution.

Shortly after Yoon announced the move, Army General Park An-soo, who was named martial law commander, banned “all political activities,” including political party activities and citizen demonstrations.

“All media outlets and publications are under the control of the martial law command,” General Park said. Work activities and the dissemination of “fake news” were also prohibited. Those who violate the decree can be arrested without a warrant, he said.

It was the first time in 44 years that a South Korean leader declared martial law. The last time it occurred in 1980 during a pro-democracy uprising against the army.

“While it is true until the 1980s, South Korea was a fairly strong dictatorship, in truth today it is a full democracy, so the declaration of martial law was a shock. I see it as an action by a rather desperate person, but in truth this could accelerate the president’s fall because his approval level is 20% or below. It is surprising because it was thought that this could happen in several countries in Asia, but not in South Korea, a country with such a vibrant democracy. It was something unthinkable,” says Aquino.

3. Criticism and the challenge of the opposition

The announcement of martial law provoked reactions of dismay within the country. In a live broadcast, South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung called on citizens to demonstrate in front of the National Assembly.

“There is no reason to declare martial law. We cannot let the military rule this country (…) President Yoon Seok Yeol has betrayed the people. President Yoon’s illegal declaration of emergency martial law is null and void. From this moment on, Mr. Yoon is no longer the president of South Korea,” said Lee, who described the measure taken by Yoon as “illegal, unconstitutional and contrary” to the will of the people.

Even the leader of Yoon’s political party, Han Dong-hoon, said Yoon’s decision was “wrong” and shook Lee Jae-myung’s hand as lawmakers gathered to vote.

Shortly after, when more and more citizens came to the National Assembly to reject the presidential action and South Korean troops tried to take the seat of the legislative branch, the opposition took its challenge to Yoon to the highest level and in an extraordinary session voted in favor of lift the martial law decreed by the president, which, according to the South Korean Constitution, forces the president to withdraw that measure.

Parliament’s decision was quickly supported by the United States, one of South Korea’s main allies. Washington, which had previously expressed concern about the situation in the Asian country, urged that the incidents in that nation be resolved “peacefully” and “in accordance with the rule of law.”

Meanwhile, the won, which was trading higher against the dollar before the news, fell 2% against the US currency. The electronics company Samsung, one of the leading South Korean companies, fell more than 6% in the London market.

4. Yoon, forced to retreat

Amid the pressure and after Parliament’s decision, Yoon lifted martial law this morning, after an extraordinary meeting of his government, while ensuring that the troops had already withdrawn to their barracks.

It is a hard political blow for a president who has seen his approval rating drop drastically in the polls, which has been translated in recent months into demonstrations in central Seoul calling for his ouster.

“The current President Yoon is one of those with the lowest approval numbers of the last presidents and there are also several circumstances that have been leading to this. For example, in the recent election of the new National Assembly in Korea in April, once again his party does not have a favorable percentage for him at all and is far from having a majority. Furthermore, the Democratic Party has about 60% of the management of Parliament. All of this has led to somewhat desperate measures on the part of his administration,” Marco Carrasco, professor of East Asian Studies at the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences of the University of San Marcos, tells this newspaper.

The crisis over the failed martial law decree puts Yoon on quite delicate ground, especially if one remembers that the National Assembly can remove the president if more than two-thirds of the legislators vote in favor. Yoon’s party controls 108 seats out of 300.

“Many people are taking to the streets and are even asking for the president’s vacancy or his resignation, the discontent is at this level. And in a way this is a kind of precautionary note for everyone because every government that enters always has to have legitimacy. And that legitimacy has to be represented in Congress. The fact that there is not that can often lead to situations of this style. It is a reflection of what is happening,” says Carrasco.

5. The North Korea factor

Although Yoon accused the opposition of being a pro-North Korean force in justifying the need to apply martial law, experts point out that the ongoing crisis is internal in nature.

Carrasco emphasizes that Yoon has leveraged the issue of North Korea to use it as an argument, but in reality he is magnifying a situation that does not show what is really happening in South Korea. “The problem is internal, it is about the government’s mismanagement, the discrepancy it has with a congress in which the majority is from the Democratic Party and, in reality, the opposition is not that far from being able to declare it vacant.”

Aquino adds that the current situation raises concern because North Korea is always looking for some weakness in South Korea to launch some sabotage action. “I hope that this crisis will be resolved soon, because South Korea is a basic piece in the entire security strategy in Asia and now the outlook is very complicated with North Korea getting closer to Russia. I hope it will be resolved soon because a permanent crisis in South Korea would have quite big consequences not only on the economic issue, but on the political scenario on the Korean peninsula, which is already quite complicated,” says the expert.