President Yoon of South Korea Declares Martial Law
Kanako Mita, Sawako Utsumi, and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea declared martial law. This immediately sent shock waves throughout South Korea.
Yoon is claiming that he needs to eradicate “anti-state forces” and to defend “the constitutional democratic order.”
Voice of America reports, “The developments stunned political observers in South Korea, a U.S. ally accustomed to political gridlock but unaccustomed to such drastic measures. It marked the first declaration of martial law since South Korea transitioned to democracy in the 1980s.”
Yoon sought to place the media under the control of the armed forces – and to ban political activities.
TASS News reports, “The South Korean president said it was triggered by the opposition’s attempts to impeach a number of prosecutors and their rejection of a budget bill at the parliament.”
YOON BACKS DOWN AFTER THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY VOTE
However, the estranged announcement was declared null and void by the National Assembly. Also, America expressed “grave concern” about political events in South Korea. Therefore, Yoon announced the immediate lifting of martial law.
Hence, Yoon abided by the constitution of South Korea when 190 out of 300 lawmakers voted for the martial law decree to be declared null and void. The constitution states that a majority of lawmakers have the right to overturn martial law.
Yonhap News Agency reports, “His Cabinet approved a motion to end martial law enforcement at 4:30 a.m., around six hours after he made the surprise emergency declaration, accusing the nation’s opposition of “paralyzing” the government with “anti-state” activities — a decision that caused concerns across the country and beyond.”
The armed forces have now returned to their military base. Hence, it is hoped that this will be the start of restoring order.
His actions are likely to see calls for him to be impeached by opposition political forces. Accordingly, the convulsions of his deeds are in the early stages.
Kurt Campbell (U.S. Deputy Secretary of State) said, “I also want to just underscore that we have every hope and expectation that any political disputes, will be resolved peacefully and in accordance with the rule of law, we’ll have more to say, as the situation develops.”
A White House spokesperson said, “We are relieved President Yoon has reversed course on his concerning declaration of martial law.”
The BBC reports, “A group of approximately 40 South Korean lawmakers are planning to put forward a bill to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol as soon as Wednesday, according to the Yonhap news agency.”
The following days will witness convulsions from the actions of Yoon.
Japan will be concerned by the actions of Yoon because ties have improved since he came to power in South Korea.
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