SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeo declared martial law on Tuesday, accusing opposition parties of taking the parliamentary process hostage, during a surprise speech broadcast live in the evening on the YTN television channel.
This decision caused a shock wave in the country which has not experienced martial law since 1980 and whose regime is considered democratic. The Korean won fell sharply against the US dollar in its wake.
“I declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are destroying the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free constitutional order,” said Yoon Suk-yeo, from the Conservative Party.
However, he did not cite a specific threat from nuclear-armed North Korea, instead focusing on its domestic political adversaries.
The military, cited by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, later announced some of the measures put in place under martial law, including a ban on the activities of Parliament and political parties. The media and publishers come under the control of the command responsible for the application of martial law.
“Tanks, armored personnel carriers and soldiers armed with guns and knives will rule the country,” denounced Lee Jae-myung, head of the Democratic Party, the majority opposition party in Parliament, during a speech broadcast online. “The economy of the Republic of Korea will collapse irreparably. My dear citizens, come to the National Assembly,” he urged.
To justify his decision, the president notably cited a motion presented this week by the Democratic Party aimed at dismissing some of the country’s main prosecutors and its rejection of the budget presented by the government.
The Democratic Party presented a plan last week to cut 4 trillion won (2.65 billion euros) from the government’s proposed budget for 2025.
Some 28,500 American troops are stationed in South Korea to protect it from the North. The White House and a spokesperson for the US military command did not respond to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Jack Kim, Ju-min Park, Hyunsu Yim and Josh Smith, French version Kate Entringer)
