South Korea’s President Lifts Martial Law Hours After Declaring It

By Eugene Whong

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ended martial law, just hours after he declared it to counter “threats from North Korea” and “anti-state activities” carried out by the country’s opposition party.

According to Yoon’s declaration, martial law would begin at 11 p.m. Tuesday, but the National Assembly voted to lift the decree nearly three hours later as protesters rallied outside. 

After Yoon’s own party urged him to lift martial law, he announced he would do so early Wednesday, and a meeting of his Cabinet made it official.

“I declare emergency martial law to defend the free Republic of Korea from the threats of North Korean communist forces and to eradicate the shameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free constitutional order.” Yoon said in a news conference Tuesday night. 

Yoon, who represents the conservative People Power Party, did not mention any specific threat from Pyongyang, and the move was seen by some as a reaction to domestic political tension and conflict.

It was the first time that martial law was declared in the country since 1980. Under South Korea’s constitution, power can be consolidated around the executive branch if the president declares martial law, but any such declaration can also be voted down by the National Assembly, which the opposition Democratic Party controls.

After Yoon’s declaration, protesters gathered outside the National Assembly building in Seoul, chanting for lawmakers to end the state of martial law — which they eventually did with 190 of the assembly’s 300 members present.

Opposition leaders vowed that they would remain on the premises until the president officially rescinds his declaration. 

Reuters reported at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, Seoul time, that Yoon announced he would lift martial law, and moments later jubilant protesters outside the assembly declared victory.

Political frustration

“Everybody is flabbergasted,” Kenneth Choi, the international editor for the The Chosun Daily newspaper said in an interview with CNN. “It’s absolutely stunning.”

“He (Yoon) is frustrated because the opposition party, which controls about two-thirds of the parliament, has impeached like 18 of his Cabinet ministers,” Choi said. “And then the opposition party cut down almost US$4 billion in the government budget. So he believes that the opposition party is trying to shut his government down.”

US reaction

The United States said Tuesday it was watching events in South Korea “with grave concern” and was seeking to engage with South Korean officials at every level in Washington and Seoul. 

“We have every hope and expectation that any political disputes will be resolved peacefully and in accordance with the rule of law,” the second-ranking U.S. diplomat, Kurt Campbell, told reporters in Washington.

A spokesperson for the National Security Council told RFA that the U.S. was not notified in advance of Yoon’s announcement.

“We are seriously concerned by the developments we are seeing on the ground in the ROK,” the spokesperson said.

David Maxwell, vice president of the Washington-based Center for Asia Pacific Strategy told RFA that Yoon, who faces a very low approval ratings, has nothing to lose, and may have been hoping that the move could hurt the opposition party.

He said Yoon may have felt the timing was right for such a bold move.

Yoon is “likely to receive little or no condemnation from the incoming Trump administration as much as there may be from Biden or would be if Harris had won,“ said Maxwell, adding that a large scale labor union protest was set to begin in South Korea on Wednesday.

He acknowledged that there were risks though, saying that under martial law, South Korean forces might accidentally use inappropriate levels of force in response to protests, the declaration could damage the reputation of conservative politicians, and that North Korea could find ways to exploit the situation.

Yoon’s declaration of martial law drew condemnation from his political opponents.

Lee Jae-myung, who narrowly lost the 2022 presidential election to Yoon and is the leader of the Democratic Party, said that the military should not rule South Korea.

“President Yoon’s illegal declaration of emergency martial law is null and void,” said Lee.

Han Dong-hoon, the leader of Yoon’s own People Power Party and South Korea’s justice minister until last year, said on Facebook that the “martial law declaration was wrong,” and that he would work alongside the people to stop it. 

• Additional reporting by Jamin Anderson for RFA Korean.