On late night Tuesday, December 3rd, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on the country dissolving its constitutional institutions. This decision was announced through a TV announcement at 10.30 the night, which surprised the citizens and lawmakers of both ruling and opposition parties. Soon after the announcement the speaker of the country’s parliament summoned all the lawmakers into an emergency meeting in the parliament. All 190 parliament lawmakers voted unanimously to lift the South Korea martial law, nullifying the president’s order. Six hours after the announcement the martial law is revoked. However, the country still faces the aftermath of the tumultuous night of the 3rd December.
What is South Korea Martial Law and the History
Under the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, the president has the authority to declare martial law and prescribes its scope, rights, procedures and duties of martial law commander through the Martial Law Act. Further, the constitution states that the president can declare martial law during “wartime, war-like situations or other comparable national emergency states” that require military force to maintain peace and order.
South Korea became a democratic nation in 1988. Since the liberation of the Korean Peninsula in the Second World War and the division of Korea into two nations, South Korea has remained under the rule of largely autocratic and some military dictatorships till the late 1980s. During this period martial law was not uncommon as the country faced political turmoil, uprisings, frequent protests and an all-out war with North Korea. The first president of South Korea Syngman Rhee introduced the first martial law in the country in 1948 during the communist uprising. He then invoked the law in 1950-53 during the Korean War. In 1960 he declared his last martial law when he was unable to hold power over massive opposition both from citizens and lawmakers. He then was forced to resign in the face of a massive uprising. After him, it was President Park Chung-Hee under whom the country saw multiple implementations of martial law. The last martial law was declared in 1979 after the assassination of President Chung-Hee, which was extended to 1980.
President Yoon’s martial law and the night of unrest
During the period from 1948 to 1988, the country saw 12 emergency martial laws, under the rule of several dictatorships. The emergency of December 3, is the first martial law for South Korean democracy after 35 years. On December 3rd, President Yoon Suk Yeol made a shocking announcement through the country’s national TV channel, declaring martial law throughout the country. The broadcast happened at 10.30 in the night KST (Korean Standard Time). The reason for this development he claimed is the opposition party which he alleged holds anti-state elements and propagates North Korea’s interests.
Upon the declaration, the military’s martial law command issued a decree which guaranteed the president extensive power. According to the decree, all political activities were suspended including the activities of the National Assembly, local councils, all political parties and all political associations as well as political gatherings and demonstrations. All actions that deny or attempt to overthrow the administration were prohibited. All media and publications were to be under military martial command. Strikes, showdowns and gatherings that were disruptive of the social order were prohibited. All medical personnel that were on strike during that period were under order to resume working. The arresting and detaining laws were loosened to favour the security forces. Apart from this decree, the security forces also surrounded the National Assembly building to prevent any parliamentary procedure from taking place.
Soon after the declaration dissent started pouring in throughout the country against the president. The opposition lawmakers dismissed the reasons behind the emergency and deemed the martial law order to be unconstitutional. The main opposition party the ‘Democratic Party’ soon called for a meeting at the National Assembly. The ruling party also called in for its ministers to an emergency caucus. The speaker of the National Assembly addressed the nation and its lawmakers through a YouTube livestream and urged the lawmakers to gather at the emergency meeting in the National Assembly. Opposition party leader Lee Jae-Myung live-streamed his journey to the parliament with the nation through social media. Citizens also started gathering at the National Assembly. At midnight a tussle broke out between the security forces guarding the entry to the parliament and the citizens marching with the lawmakers. The people overpowered the security forces and facilitated the entry of the lawmakers into the parliament. At 12.49 AM KST midnight, an emergency session in the national assembly took place that discussed martial law. During this period the military started approaching the national assembly. Army helicopters were seen flying towards the establishment. By 1.00 AM KST, all the 190 members of the national assembly voted unanimously to lift the martial law. Soon after the military started retreating. At 4.30 AM the martial law was officially lifted after the cabinet meeting.
What Caused Yoon to Impose Martial Law in South Korea?
President Yoon gave the official reason for this imposition that he was acting to safeguard his country’s liberal democracy from “anti-state forces” and “threats posed by North Korea”. This statement, however, falls flat when there is no evidence to back it up. It is a repeated trend with dictatorial leaders to cite North Korea as a reason for martial law when domestic affairs go out of control from their hands.
Since taking office in 2022 the President faced several controversies and scandals that plummeted his approval ratings between the people. Recently in November he and his wife the first lady were at the centre of an influence-peddling scandal in a by-election in the country. He was at friction with the national assembly as 22 of his chosen official administrators were impeached by lawmakers, especially from the opposition through motions in the parliament. The opposition party in South Korea holds significant power through their successful performance in this electoral term which was a severe inconvenience for the president to pass any policy. The budget for the next year is an example of that. The opposition has slashed around 4.1 trillion won ($4.5 billion) from Mr Yoon’s proposed 677 trillion won ($736 billion) budget for next year.
It is believed that these developments along with some ill pieces of advice from some members of his administration made the president attempt to grab power over the country undermining the constitution.
Aftermath of South Korea Martial Law 2024
The aftermath of the tumultuous night is a direct political chaos in the South Korean political establishment. President Yoon the next day in his address replaced his defence minister Kim Yong Hyun, who had been reportedly involved in advising Yoon on the martial law decision. On the 8th the former defence was detained and, on the 11th, he was officially arrested after the testimony from the military martial commander. On the 7th an impeachment motion was put forward in the parliament for the removal of President. However, the motion failed due to the abstinence of ruling party members. Though the ruling party voted against martial law, they abstained from voting against their party leader. But the public fallout was massive in contrast to the political one. On 9th December Justice Ministry imposed a travel ban on President Yoon. The main opposition party again put a motion for the removal of Yoon and this time the motion was successful. Yoon Suk Yeol was ousted from the presidential position on 14th December. The investigation, however, of the whole ordeal is still ongoing.