Today they went to their offices, businesses and schools as normal, as there are no visible signs of the six hours of martial law that lasted yesterday, Tuesday, nor of the political unrest that followed.
The city of 9 million residents began their day as usual, with the usual traffic on trains and roads, after South Korean President Yun Su-yeol, ending his attempt to ban political activities and impose censorship on the media.
However, many residents of Seoul are still in a state of shock after the events, which caused South Korea’s stock market to plummet, as did the country’s national currency.
South Korea has been under martial law about 10 times since the Republic of Korea was founded in 1948, but the last time was more than four decades ago when General Chun Duhwan seized power and ruled the country since 1980. until 1988.
Gang Hye-su, 50, a resident of Seoul, said he woke up by chance and saw the news.
“At first I was scared and very confused”
“At first I was scared and very confused. I kept thinking ‘what’s going on? Is it really something that can happen in this day and age?’ I couldn’t sleep until martial law was lifted because I was so scared,” he said.
Yun declared martial law during his speech broadcast live on television at around 10:30pm (local time, 3:30pm Greece time) yesterday, Tuesday. He suspended his decision after parliament rejected his bid to suspend all political activity and impose strict media censorship.
The office of the South Korean president announced that the declaration of martial law was chosen to take place during the night in order to “limit the impact on the national economy and people’s lives”.
bulletproof vests and night vision goggles entered the parliament by breaking the windows. Helicopters were flying over the building.
“It was something I’ve only seen in the movies, and I realized it’s more serious than I thought,” said Seoul resident Kim Byeong-In, 39, who added that he worries about the impact the political unrest will have on the economy.
“I am deeply confused by this situation and I am very worried about the future of the country,” he added.
Many South Koreans said they stayed up late following the developments, which the media continued to cover despite the declaration of martial law.
As soon as the news broke, the usually quiet commuters on the Seoul subway started talking to each other. A man was reading the news to someone else, an eyewitness told Reuters.
Demonstrations and panic buying
Thousands of people rushed outside parliament overnight, calling for Yun’s decision to be overturned and his subsequent arrest and resignation.
Almost two-thirds of the 300-member parliament rushed to vote to reject martial law.
A major South Korean supermarket chain, which asked not to be named, said canned food sales rose 337% at its stores between 11pm and midnight compared to the same period last week.
Sales of instant noodle packets rose 254% and bottled water sales rose 141%, a spokesperson for the chain said.
Some companies advised their employees to work from home overnight, but businesses were operating as normal this morning.
South Korea’s largest labor union, the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions, announced today that tens of thousands of its members will go on strike until Yoon steps down and will hold a demonstration this afternoon in central Seoul.
Other demonstrations are expected to take place today.
“I just knew that martial law was declared for a reason, but it ended without anything of note, making the reason (for which it was declared) seem meaningless. It seemed a bit strange to me,” commented Park Eun-yeop.
Source: RES-MPE
