The opposition said it does not recognize the measure and that it points to an attempted coup by the president
IGOR GIELOW – The president of South Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol, declared martial law this Tuesday (3), taking the country by surprise amid a serious dispute with the opposition in Parliament. Political activities and civil liberties are banned.
“I declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces who are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect order constitutional,” said Yoon.
The opposition said it does not recognize the measure and that it points to an attempted coup by the president. Even the president’s allies, such as the leader of his party, criticized the action.
According to the Martial Law Command, established by Yoon, civil liberties are restricted. Anyone who broke the rules could be arrested, according to the Army, and the political activities of parties inside and outside Parliament are banned for now.
Martial law is usually invoked in times of war — strictly speaking, Seoul has been in a frozen conflict with Pyongyang since the armistice that ended three years of fighting in 1953.
Yoon, from the conservative People’s Power Party, has faced resistance from Congress, which is controlled by the liberals of the Democratic Party — the opposition group accounts for 170 of the 190 seats opposed to the government, which has 108 deputies.
The most recent dispute is over next year’s budget, which opponents say is a smokescreen to focus on scandals involving allies and even his wife.
Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung said martial law was unconstitutional. He called an emergency meeting at Parliament with members of his party, but was blocked at the door by soldiers, according to local media.
The severity of the crisis, despite the continuous rifts between government and opposition, was not expected. South Korean politics have always contrasted with their economic strength, being a minefield of disputes.
Since it was created in 1948, the country was governed by a military dictatorship and autocratic leaders until 1987, when the transition to liberal democracy began, which only gained full momentum in 2002.
In Parliament, this vitality took on a sometimes farcical air, with the famous physical fights between deputies, but nothing indicated a regression to the time of military coups.
In his speech on national television at the end of the note (late morning in Brazil), which had not been announced, Yoon said he “had no other choice”. According to him, the last straw was a motion by the Democratic party to impeach some State prosecutors and their rejection of the budget proposed by the Executive.
The accusation that the opposition supports North Korea also seems out of place. In recent months, Yoon’s approval rating had fallen to its worst levels since he took office in 2022. Last week, the Gallup Korea institute found that only 19% of South Koreans support the leader.
His rival Lee, whom Yoon narrowly defeated in the last presidential election, told Yonhap news agency that the country will be “ruled by tanks, armored personnel carriers and soldiers with guns and knives”.
“The economy of the Republic of Korea will collapse irreversibly. My fellow citizens, please come to the National Assembly,” he said, using the formal names of the country and Congress. The Seoul Stock Exchange may not open this Wednesday (4), and the won, the local currency, suffered a fall against the dollar.
The crisis occurs at a time of serious tension with North Korea, whose dictator Kim Jon-un has intensified his militaristic rhetoric and even blown up roads connecting the two countries. Kim signed a controversial mutual defense agreement with Vladimir Putin’s Russia and apparently sent soldiers to fight in Ukraine.
The United States, Seoul’s main guarantor, said it was “monitoring the situation, according to the White House. Yoon is a close ally of Washington, vital to the American strategy of trying to contain China in the Asia-Pacific theater.
Since the government before Yoon’s, Washington has increased its rhetoric against Pyongyang. Last year, he placed South Koreans on the committee that defines the use of nuclear weapons in the event of an attack from the North, drawing criticism from Russia and China, Kim’s allies.
