Martial law is well and truly over in South Korea, a few hours after being put in place.
South Korea has just experienced a night full of twists and turns. President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in South Korea on Tuesday evening.
Under South Korean law, if the Assembly demands the lifting of martial law with the consent of a majority of its members, the president must lift it. The Democratic Party alone holds 170 of the 300 seats in parliament.
However, the president tried to prevent this from happening. Not only was it announced that opponents of this decision could be arrested, but that's not all because to prevent a decision against him by the National Assembly, we recently learned that access to the National Assembly building was blocked under the emergency decree. No one could go inside tonight, neither civilians nor deputies.
The South Koreans fought, and as the military attempted to seize Parliament, MPs were able to enter the building to vote urgently against the martial law imposed by the president. The opposition-led National Assembly on Wednesday passed the motion to revoke President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of emergency martial law, with 190 lawmakers present voting in favor.
National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik called an emergency plenary session, hours after the president declared martial law. Under Korean law, the president is required to lift the declaration if the National Assembly requests it after a majority vote, so this decision requires him to comply with Parliament.
At 4:27 a.m., just 6 hours after forcibly imposing martial law, President Yoon Suk Yeol announced in a speech from the Presidential Office the lifting of emergency martial law. He also withdrew all the troops mobilized around Parliament and in the streets of Seoul, a few hours after a frightening parade of helicopters and military vehicles in the capital.
Although he therefore confirmed the lifting of martial law, Yoon Suk Yeol nevertheless continued his accusations against the opposition, accusing them of paralyzing the country and preventing the government from being effective.
For historical context, it has been 44 years since martial law was in effect in South Korea, following its lifting in 1980 following the death of President Park Chung Hee.
Now, experts believe that Yoon Suk Yeol's days as head of the country are numbered. Indeed, his attempts to force the country to go under martial law and to prevent MPs from overturning his decision by blocking access to Parliament, are signs that should shorten his mandate, as he is now in a seat ejected with decision-making that endangered democracy and could have had disastrous consequences.
On the opposition side, they are already calling for his resignation, and the Korean people are also expressing their support in this regard at the moment, after a turbulent night which scared the whole country.
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