Martial law lifted in South Korea amid calls for President’s resignation
MPs unanimously vote against martial law; more than 10 senior secretaries to the president and his chief of staff resign
In a dramatic turn of events, martial law has been withdrawn in South Korea hours after being imposed as the National Assembly unanimously voted against it.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced its withdrawal within six hours of announcing its imposition. Amid growing calls for his resignation now, his chief of staff and more than 10 senior secretaries to the president have reportedly submitted their resignations. President Yoon has not yet resigned despite growing calls for him to step down over his martial law decree.
Imposed and withdrawn
In a special address to the nation at 4.30 am (local time, 1 am Indian time) on Wednesday (December 4), President Yoon said, “Just a moment ago, there was a demand from the National Assembly to lift the state of emergency, and we have withdrawn the military that was deployed for martial law operations. We will accept the National Assembly’s request and lift the martial law through the Cabinet meeting,”.
While both the President and the army chief agreed to honour the midnight voting by the National Assembly, the South Korean Cabinet convened after half an hour, at 5 am (local time) to approve a motion to officially lift the martial laws — one of the shortest ever declared. The last time South Korea had imposed a martial law was in 1980.
A last-ditch effort?
President Yoon claimed on Tuesday that the decision was taken to crush “anti-state forces”. However, defying martial law, slogan-shouting politicians and other protesters assembled outside the country’s parliament (National Assembly), prompting security forces to fire tear gas shells. South Korea’s currency, the won, as well as its benchmark Kospi index took a hit after the martial law decree but both recovered quickly as it was withdrawn.
President Yoon has been under significant political pressure since his People Power Party suffered a major defeat in the April general elections, with the Opposition bagging more than two-thirds of the seats in Parliament. President Yoon’s national rating has also fallen to only about 20 per cent recently. This drastic move may have been a last-ditch effort on his part to avoid or delay the inevitable.
