Tuesday, December 3, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol proclaimed martial law, in a context of tense parliamentary debate on the budget. “To protect liberal South Korea from threats posed by North Korean communist forces and eliminate elements hostile to the state (…), I declare emergency martial law,” the president declared
Accordingly, all political activities were banned and the media are under government supervision, Army Chief Park An-su said in a statement. The army deployed in the streets of the capital. Helicopters landed on the roof of the parliament building in Seoul. Parliament and all political parties were suspended.
Martial law authorizes the use of armed force for internal repression within a country. It is a body of law imposed by the military on civil affairs, usually in times of war or civil crisis. It is proclaimed by the head of state, when a serious crisis threatens the stability of the country or a region: war, civil war, riots, attempted coup d'état, terrorist attack, etc.
Last established in 1980 in Korea
South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung called martial law “illegal” and called on the population to gather in front of parliament in protest. Hundreds of people heard his call and began to flock to Parliament around 1 a.m. Thanks to the demonstrators, 190 deputies managed to enter the Assembly and voted unanimously against martial law. The army, however, warned that it would enforce it until it was lifted by the president.
Martial law was no longer in place in South Korea since the democratization process initiated at the end of the 1980sincluding during periods of high tension, such as in 2016, when millions of demonstrators obtained the impeachment of President Park Geun-Hye, amid a corruption scandal.
It was last decreed on May 17, 1980, during the military coup of General Chun Doo-hwan. The next day, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Gwangju (South-West), a traditional center of protest, to protest the coup. The demonstrations were repressed in a bloodbath. Martial law was lifted in January 1981.
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