South Korea’s parliament and president are locked in a standoff after the president dramatically and unexpectedly declared martial law on Tuesday evening, sparking the most serious challenge to the country’s democracy since the 1980s.
The US said it was watching events in its key Asian ally – where it has 28,500 troops stationed to guard against North Korea – with “grave concern” and hoped that any political disputes would be resolved peacefully and in accordance with the rule of law.
South Korea’s main opposition Democratic party called the president’s move “essentially a coup d’état”, saying it was illegal and in violation of the country’s constitution.
President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in a late-night televised address on Tuesday amid a dispute with opposition parties he accused of pro-North Korean sympathies and anti-state activities.
Legislators gathered in an emergency session of the National Assembly – as parliamentary aides attempted to stop armed officers entering the building – to unanimously vote against Yoon’s declaration of martial law for the first time in South Korea since 1980.
Seoul’s defence ministry said after the vote that it would continue to maintain martial law until the president instructed otherwise, leaving the two sides at loggerheads as the crisis stretched into the early hours of Wednesday morning with no sign of a resolution. South Korean law states that the president must comply with parliament’s vote to block martial law, but it doesn’t specify a time frame.
Park An-su, the army’s chief of staff, said that “strikes, work stoppages and assembly acts that incite social unrest are prohibited”. Martial law in South Korea also provides for arrest without warrant and states that all media should be controlled by military authorities.
But in the early hours of Wednesday morning there were no signs of South Korean society – accustomed to decades of democracy – complying with the rules. Local media reported on the protests and the political developments, while the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions called emergency meetings to discuss going on strike.
Hundreds of protesters had earlier gathered outside the National Assembly building following Yoon’s announcement that he was acting to eradicate “shameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces”.
The crowd in Seoul cheered when the National Assembly voted to reject his decree and called for Yoon’s arrest, chanting “Abolish martial law” and “Oppose martial law”. Helicopters circled overhead as armed officers attempted to force entry into the building, where parliamentary staffers tried to push them back with fire extinguishers.
The declaration of martial law drew immediate opposition from politicians, including the leader of Yoon’s conservative People Power party, Han Dong-hoon, who called it “wrong” and vowed to “stop it with the people”.
Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic party, which has a majority in parliament, said in an online live stream: “Tanks, armoured personnel carriers and soldiers with guns and knives will rule the country. The economy of the Republic of Korea will collapse irretrievably. My fellow citizens, please come to the National Assembly.”
Yoon is known for labelling his political opponents “anti-state forces” and “fake news”. His administration, which took over in May 2022, has massively stepped up the use of defamation lawsuits against the press. He has also been locked in an impasse with the liberal Democratic party over next year’s budget and drawn rebukes from his political rivals for dismissing calls for independent investigations into scandals involving his wife and top officials, but there had been no hint that he intended to declare martial law.
A spokesperson for the US national security council said Washington was not notified in advance of Yoon’s plans. “We are seriously concerned by the developments we are seeing on the ground,” the spokesperson said.
In his announcement, Yoon said he had no choice but to resort to such a measure to safeguard free and constitutional order, claiming opposition parties had taken the parliamentary process hostage in order to throw the country into crisis.
“I declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free constitutional order,” he said.
Yoon did not cite any specific threat from the nuclear-armed North Korea, instead focusing on his domestic political opponents. There have been several protests against Yoon in recent weeks, with some calling for his impeachment. His approval rating recently fell to a record low of 19%.
South Korea’s constitution states that the president, who is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces, may declare martial law “in time of war, armed conflict or similar national emergency”.
Moon Jae-in, the previous president, said on Tuesday that the country was “in a critical state” and called on the National Assembly to “quickly step in and protect the democracy that is collapsing”.
The surprise move sent shock waves through the country, which had a series of authoritarian leaders early in its history but has been considered democratic since the 1980s. A taxi driver in Seoul who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal said: “They’re using exactly the same methods they used in the Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan eras … Whenever their regime is in crisis, they use war-mongering and martial law to cover it up.”
Park and Chun were military dictators in South Korea between 1961 and 1988. “I never imagined this would happen again,” the taxi driver said.
The Centre for Military Human Rights, an NGO, said that the declaration of martial law was illegal and called the move “a declaration of war against the people of the Republic of Korea”.
The group accused Yoon of staging a coup, and called on the military to refrain from using force against citizens.
On Monday, South Korea’s ministers criticised the Democratic party’s move last week to cut more than 4tn Korean won (£2.2bn) from the government’s budget proposal. Yoon said that action undermined the essential functioning of government administration.
