3/12/2024–|Last updated: 12/3/202407:31 PM (Mecca time)
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol announced the imposition of martial law throughout the country, closing the Parliament headquarters and assigning the Chief of Staff to lead the country, while Parliament voted to reject these decisions.
According to the official Yonhap Agency, President Yoon said during a television interview on Tuesday that martial law aims to eliminate forces loyal to North Korea and preserve freedom and constitutional order.
In a live speech broadcast on YTN television, Yoon said he would eliminate “blatant anti-state and pro-North Korea forces.”
For its part, Reuters said that the South Korean army announced a ban on parliamentary and partisan activities, and that the media and publishing houses would be under the control of the martial law leadership.
The instructions also included an order for the striking doctors to return to work within 48 hours, and the Ministry of Defense, in turn, issued a statement calling on the army leaders to meet and exercise caution and vigilance.
Martial Law Commander
South Korea’s Chief of General Staff, General Park In-soo, assumed the task of leading martial law, according to what was reported by Yonhap Agency.
General Park issued instructions banning all political events and activities, including protest demonstrations, in the country.
The instructions indicated that violators of martial law decisions may be arrested without the need for a judicial decision.
Parliament votes no
In response, Reuters said that the South Korean parliament voted against the decision to impose martial law.
The opposition called on its representatives to join Parliament, and video clips broadcast on social media platforms showed clashes between demonstrators and army forces.
Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung denounced these decisions, considering them “illegal,” and called on citizens to gather in front of Parliament to protest against them.
“President Yeon Suk-yeol’s illegal decision to impose martial law is invalid,” Lee said, adding in a speech broadcast live on the Internet, “Please, go now to the National Assembly. I am going there too.”
Yoon’s decision came after the opposition Democratic Party rejected the budget bill in Parliament, noting that it was the first time since 1980 that martial law had been declared in South Korea.
Martial law is a set of exceptional rules and measures that the state resorts to under emergency circumstances that allow it to temporarily suspend all or some of the laws in force in it, to ward off the dangers to which the country is exposed.
Feedback
In the first reaction to these rapid developments, the Chinese embassy in Seoul called on its citizens in South Korea to be “cautious.”
The embassy said in a statement that it “advises Chinese citizens in South Korea to remain calm, increase their safety vigilance, limit unnecessary movements, and exercise caution when expressing their political opinions.”
For his part, a spokesman for the US National Security Council said that the administration of President Joe Biden is “in contact with the government of the Republic of Korea and is closely monitoring the situation.” Seoul is one of Washington’s main allies, and hosts thousands of American soldiers.
