December 4, 2024
In an unprecedented move, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law late Tuesday, sending shockwaves across the nation. Speaking in a surprise late-night television address, Yoon slammed opposition parties, accusing them of โtaking the parliamentary process hostageโ and vowing to eliminate what he described as โshameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces.โ He stated that, in order to safeguard the constitutional order, he had no choice but to implement this drastic measure.
This marked the first declaration of martial law in South Korea since 1980, sparking widespread political outrage and public protests. Under martial law, parliamentary activities were suspended, and media outlets were placed under military control, according to reports from Yonhap News Agency.
The move drew swift condemnation from opposition leaders and even some within Yoonโs own conservative party. Less than three hours after Yoon declared martial law, the opposition-led National Assembly convened an emergency session to vote against the martial law order. All 190 lawmakers present voted unanimously to overturn it, forcing Yoon to backtrack, with National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik calling the session. Under South Korean law, the president must revoke martial law if the National Assembly votes to nullify it by a majority.
By Wednesday morning, President Yoon announced the lifting of martial law, but not without doubling down on criticism of his political opponents. He accused lawmakers of engaging in โunscrupulous actsโ that paralyzed the government, though he ultimately acknowledged parliamentโs authority to overturn the declaration. Outside the National Assembly, protesters celebrated the repeal, chanting, โWe won!โ while some demonstrators played drums in celebration.
Opposition leaders continued to call for Yoonโs resignation or impeachment, with Democratic Party lawmaker Park Chan-dae stating, โ๐๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ง ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ข๐ธ ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข๐ท๐ฐ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ.โโฉ
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