The last 24 hours in South Korea have been extraordinary. After President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in a late-night address to the nation on Tuesday, accusing the opposition Democratic Party of sympathizing with North Korea and conducting “anti-state activities,” people poured into the streets to protest the decision.
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The Democratic Party was certainly guilty of obstructing Yoon’s agenda. They have blocked many of his appointments, stymied his healthcare reforms, blocked his economic stimulus efforts, investigated his aides, impeached his appointees, and even claimed his wife was corrupt.
Yoon, known for emotional outbursts according to the New York Times, finally had enough and decided to declare a national emergency at around 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday night. This resulted in six incredible hours that saw pushback from both major parties and thousands of ordinary Korean citizens pouring into the streets after midnight.
Opposition Democratic Party lawmakers were joined by Yoon’s People’s Power Party members in a post-midnight bid to rush the National Assembly building and push past the paratroopers blocking the legislators from meeting. Aides to the legislators turned fire extinguishers on the soldiers while others tried to run interference for the lawmakers.
In the end, the soldiers stepped aside. The lawmakers voted 190-0 to rescind martial law.
The average USian mind can’t comprehend the concept of stopping a budding military dictatorship at 3:48 am with their barehands and no coffee. That’s what South Korea did today. pic.twitter.com/M6hW8Kx4jJ
— Anonymous (@YourAnonCentral) December 3, 2024
A country divided.
🇰🇷 In South Korea, a young martial law soldier bowed his head to the citizens and said, “I’m sorry.” pic.twitter.com/XJ61CbZdZr
— Update NEWS (@UpdateNews724) December 4, 2024
This woman is already an icon in South Korea.
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watching the citizens of South Korea revolt against martial law is so badass this woman is a legendpic.twitter.com/TZgUqtrhPt
— Omni ☕️ (@InfernoOmni) December 3, 2024
There’s no justification for what Yoon tried to do. There was no “crisis” that threatened the nation. There was political paralysis thanks to an opposition party that is using every trick in the book to stymie Yoon’s agenda.
Yoon, a conservative, has clashed with the opposition on many of his policies that require legislation, preventing him from moving forward on campaign promises to cut taxes and ease business regulations.
He has also grown increasingly frustrated with the opposition’s efforts to impeach government figures, some of whom he’d appointed – including the chair of the broadcasting watchdog, the chair of the state auditor, and several top prosecutors, according to Yonhap.
The prosecutors in particular are a sore point for Yoon. Opposition lawmakers argue they failed to indict Yoon’s wife, the first lady – who has been embroiled in scandal and accusations of stock manipulation, which the presidential office has repeatedly denied.
All of Yoon’s senior aides have tendered their resignations. Most Koreans hope that Yoon sees the writing on the wall and resigns without forcing the nation to go through the wrenching impeachment process.
“The best option Yoon has now is to resign,” said Sung Deuk Hahm, a professor of political science at Kyonggi University. Hahm, who knew the president before he was elected, thinks the unrelenting strain on Yoon made him despondent and unstable.
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“Things have become too much for him,” Mr. Hahm said. “He became mentally unstable under political pressure.”
Evidence for that is scarce, but Yoon’s party leaders were not informed of the martial law decree in advance. In fact, there was no planning for martial law to be imposed at all.
Even top leaders of Mr. Yoon’s party said they learned of the declaration through the news media. Kim Byung-joo, an opposition lawmaker and former general, told MBC Radio on Wednesday that when he called army generals near the border with North Korea, none of them knew what was happening. Paratroopers mobilized to occupy the National Assembly showed none of the decisiveness and brutality their predecessors used in the 1980 crackdown on pro-democracy activists, when as many as hundreds were killed in the southern city of Gwangju during Mr. Chun’s period of martial law. On Wednesday, the soldiers peacefully retreated after the Assembly voted to repeal Mr. Yoon’s action.
Yoon has lost the support of his own party and even many of his top aides have turned against him. If he doesn’t resign, he will be impeached in record time.
