S. Korean president declares martial law, backs down amid calls for impeachment

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared emergency martial law late Tuesday before backing down, placing the military in control of all government and judicial functions in a power grab that came after months of political stalemate. The hours of crisis and chaos have thrown the future of his presidency into doubt.

As the military and police sought to contain protesters who had poured into the streets around the National Assembly, the president announced he would lift the order as soon as he could convene his Cabinet, heeding a defiant vote from the opposition-led legislature. The Cabinet met before dawn Wednesday local time, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, as protesters chanted for Yoon’s impeachment.

It remained unclear what immediately precipitated Yoon’s decree — the first time martial law has been declared in South Korea since 1980, when a military junta ruled the country.

In a televised address to the nation announcing his declaration of martial law, Yoon called the legislature a “den of criminals” engaged in “legislative tyranny” and “anti-state activities.”

“Honorable citizens, as president, I appeal to you with a feeling of spitting blood,” he said.

Accusing his opponents of being “shameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people,” Yoon lambasted lawmakers for rejecting his government budget proposal and moving to impeach several public officials.

His presidency has been plagued by scandal since soon after he took office in 2022, with relentless accusations that he and his wife had abused their positions for personal and political gain.

Yoon’s approval ratings have plummeted in recent months amid growing calls for his impeachment.

South Korean television broadcasted Yoon’s address over and over again. One news anchor noted in grave disbelief that “we are now reporting a situation to you that we had only seen in movies.”

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Park An-su, whom Yoon had named martial law commander, banned all political activity and proclaimed that the media was under military control.

Outside the National Assembly, around a thousand protesters tussled with police guarding the gates as military helicopters hovered overhead. Bundled in thick winter jackets, they waved banners and umbrellas, chanting “lift the martial law!”

Reporters, legislative staff and lawmakers had barricaded themselves inside the building as soldiers stormed the entrance, shattering a window and setting off what appeared to be either a smoke grenade or tear gas canister in an attempt to force their way in.

Early Wednesday — less than three hours after Yoon declared martial law — the legislature voted to overturn his decree. By law, the president is required to lift his order immediately. Yoon soon announced he would comply.

Upon learning of the vote, the protesters broke out in cheers, which quickly turned into another increasingly familiar refrain: “Impeach Yoon Suk Yeol!”

In the minds of most South Koreans, martial law is strongly associated with the country’s pre-democratic military dictatorships, which used it as a tool to crush political dissent, oftentimes with violence.

Under a state of martial law, the military can restrict citizens’ basic rights, including detaining or searching them without a warrant. Crimes can be prosecuted in military courts.

The last leader to declare emergency martial law was military general Chun Doo-hwan, who rose to power in a coup in 1979. Chun later declared martial law over the entire country in 1980, during which his military opened fire on pro-democracy protestors in the city of Gwangju, killing at least 165.

This is not the first time that democratically elected presidents have toyed with martial law.

Under former president Park Geun-hye, a conservative whose corruption scandal led to her impeachment in 2017, military officials had secretly prepared their own plans of declaring martial law in the event that the courts upheld her impeachment. But Park would ultimately be ousted and jailed without those plans ever being set into motion.

In September, opposition politicians raised the alarm that Yoon himself was preparing to declare martial law, citing the fact that Kim Yong-hyun, the defense minister, had held an uncustomary meeting with the three military commanders who would likely play key roles in a martial law regime.

At the time, the presidential office denied the allegations, which it dismissed as political incitement akin to that of Stalin or Nazi Germany.

Yoon, a former prosecutor, rose to political prominence as a straight-shooting investigator who handled high-profile corruption cases.

But since being elected president May 2022, he has been a divisive leader, inviting controversy by engaging in misogynistic rhetoric and cracking down on critical media outlets.

Yoon has been accused of interfering in a military investigation into the death of a young marine who drowned during a search and rescue operation last year, while his wife has been under fire for accepting a luxury handbag from a Korean American pastor in what critics have characterized as a clear case of graft.

The opposition party has also moved to impeach Yoon’s interior minister, who it holds responsible for a crowd crush that killed over 150 people on Halloween in 2022. In addition, liberal party legislators have tried to remove several prosecutors who investigated Lee Jae-myung, their leader and presidential hopeful.

In April, Yoon’s conservative party suffered a crushing defeat in the parliamentary general elections, which many saw as a referendum on his presidency.

Legislators of all stripes quickly denounced Yoon’s decree of martial law.

“There is no reason to declare martial law. We cannot let the military rule this country,” opposition leader Lee Jae-myung said in a video he recorded in a car on his way to the National Assembly. “President Yoon Suk Yeol has betrayed the people. President Yoon’s illegal declaration of emergency martial law is null and void. From this moment on, Mr. Yoon is no longer the president of South Korea.”

Even Han Dong-hoon, the leader of Yoon’s own conservative party, had condemned Yoon’s actions as unconstitutional.

“With the National Assembly’s vote to lift it, the state of emergency martial law has now been rendered invalid,” he said.