Within six hours of declaring martial law in the country, South Korean President Yun Suk Yeol said he would lift it. “Just a moment ago, the National Assembly was demanded to lift the state of emergency, and we deployed troops for martial law operations,” President Yoon said in a special address to the nation at 4:30 a.m. (local time). We will accept the request of the National Assembly and lift martial law through a cabinet meeting.”
Why was the decision reversed?
South Korean lawmakers voted unanimously against imposing martial law in a midnight session of the National Assembly to condemn the president’s decision. The President then agreed to respect the vote, as did the Army Chief. Shortly after the President withdrew the order and addressed the nation, the South Korean Cabinet convened at 5 a.m. (local time) to officially approve the proposal to lift martial law, one of the shortest in history. became a.
For the first time since 1980
Parliamentarians strongly opposed President Yoon’s decision for national emergency and martial law. Under this decision, political activity was banned and the media was censored. Explaining his move, President Yoon had said that the decision was taken to crush “anti-state forces”. This was the first time in nearly five decades that South Korea had imposed martial law. Earlier this had happened in 1980.
The world was also surprised
After the decision, politicians and protesters gathered outside the National Assembly (Parliament) and raised slogans in defiance of the martial law in force at that time. Security forces had to fire tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. The country’s currency also declined. However, the situation improved after President Yoon agreed to a vote in parliament and said he would announce the withdrawal soon. South Korea is one of the leading economies of Asia and a major ally of the United States. It has also been a democracy for more than four decades. Therefore the move to impose martial law had created international alarm.
President Yun had become unpopular
South Korea is under constant threat from its nuclear armed neighbor North Korea. However, President Yoon did not mention any specific threat from Kim Jong-un to impose martial law. President Yoon is under pressure in domestic politics after the crushing defeat of his party People’s Power Party in the general elections held in April this year. With this result the opposition got more than two-third majority in the Parliament. President Yoon has also been unpopular in recent days, with his national rating falling to only around 20 percent.
