Why did the president of South Korea declare martial law?

The unexpected declaration of a state of emergency by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who blamed the main opposition bloc on a “pro-North Korean force”, comes after a series of tensions between the two sides and with the leader at a low level. popularity.

Yoon announced martial law in a televised statement to protect the “constitutional order” against “anti-state” activities, which he accuses the main opposition bloc, the Democratic Party (DP).

The surprise announcement comes after the PD, which has a majority in the National Assembly (Parliament), passed a 2025 general budget with multiple cuts without the support of Yoon’s ruling People’s Power Party (PPP), in addition to motions to bar the lawyer to dismiss. general and the head of the Audit and Inspection Council, responsible for monitoring the accounts of public organizations.

Yoon’s presidency has been sharply weakened since the opposition Democratic Party won parliamentary elections last April, and his government has since been unable to implement the laws it proposed.

Yoon himself justified in his televised speech on Tuesday that since he was sworn in in May 2022, 22 impeachment proceedings have been registered against members of his government, with the opposition promoting its tenth attempt since the National Assembly resumed after the legislative elections.

The conservative president said the situation is “unprecedented” in the country’s history and in global politics, claiming the actions have undermined the executive branch’s management capabilities.

The declaration of martial law, the repeal of which was approved this evening by the National Assembly in an extraordinary session by 190 votes in favor and which, according to the South Korean Constitution, obliges the President to repeal this law, is being made with the lowest support from Yoon’s popularity throughout his life. employment.

The reasons behind this lack of popularity are diverse, such as the handling of the allegations against the first lady Kim Keon-hee, the situation of the economy or the lack of communication on the part of the president.

His wife has faced criticism over allegations related to her acceptance of a luxury handbag for alleged preferential treatment, stock manipulation and her involvement in disrupting the ruling People Power Party’s candidate nominations ahead of April elections.

Yoon even went as far as to publicly apologize amid the controversies surrounding the first lady, saying, “I think it’s not the president’s role to make excuses. This is all due to my own shortcomings and lack of virtue.”

Thousands of people gathered outside the National Assembly in Seoul today to protest martial law and demand Yoon’s resignation, as South Korean troops attempted to seize the seat of the legislature under the emergency measure.

Three precedents since 1972

After a military coup in 1961, Park Chung-hee was elected president in 1963 and re-elected in 1971. Under his rule, South Korea experienced tremendous economic growth, and the president’s popularity grew until the early 1970s, when it began to decline and decided to declare martial law in 1972 and adopt a new authoritarian constitution that lasted until shortly after his assassination in 1979 would remain in effect.

In May 1980, then-President Chun Doo-hwan ordered martial law and the military arrested key opposition political leaders, universities were closed, political activities were banned and the press was restricted. That imposition sparked the so-called uprising in the city of Gwangju, about 200 miles (330 kilometers) south of Seoul, where the military is estimated to have killed about 600 civilians.

More recently, in the summer of 2018, General Lee Suk-koo attempted to impose martial law through a plan proposed by military intelligence to end protests against former President Park Geun-Hye , who was accused of corruption and who considered the arrest of parliamentarians. or the censorship of the media.