Members of the military make their way through the crowd in front of the National Assembly, after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, in Seoul, South Korea, December 4, 2024.
Kim Hong-ji | Reuters
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared he would lift emergency martial law early Wednesday morning. The declaration came hours after the National Assembly voted to overturn the president’s decree issued late Tuesday night that plunged the key Asian democracy and economic power into chaos.
Yoon said he has called for a Cabinet meeting to officially lift martial law, as per the Constitution. The military units that were deployed have also been withdrawn, Yoon announced.
“I will immediately convene a Cabinet meeting to accept the National Assembly’s request and end martial law,” Yoon said.
In his announcement, Yoon also called for parliamentary lawmakers to “immediately cease its reckless actions that paralyze the functions of the state, including repeated impeachment attempts, legislative manipulation and budget manipulation.” In recent weeks, Yoon and the opposition Democratic Party, which holds the parliamentary majority, were in a political deadlock over next year’s budget plan. Opposition lawmakers had also called to impeach several Cabinet members after several corruption and graft scandals.
Early Wednesday morning, within three hours of Yoon’s surprise martial law decree, 190 out of the 300 National Assembly lawmakers — including members of Yoon’s People Power Party — gathered to overturn the emergency order. Under the country’s constitution, the president is required to comply with the National Assembly’s vote.
The shock move to enact martial law marked the first time in 44 years martial law was declared in South Korea. Yoon had accused opposition lawmakers of throwing the country into a political crisis. Under the martial law declaration, all political activities and acts that “incite social disorder” are prohibited.
“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 plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free constitutional order,” Yoon said.
However, Yoon’s martial law decree came as a surprise even to members of his party. The party’s chair, Han Dong-hoon, and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon both voiced their opposition to Yoon’s martial law declaration on Tuesday night. Choo Kyung-ho, who is the leader of the People Power Party in the National Assembly, stated that he learned of the martial law declaration through the news.
Yoon, who was elected in 2022, had seen his approval ratings fall below 20% in recent weeks.
Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung earlier in the night cited concerns on the martial law declaration’s effect on the economy. “The economy of Republic of Korea will collapse irretrievably, international trust will fall and foreign investors will withdraw,” Lee said in a livestream earlier in the night on his way to the National Assembly.
The declaration roiled Korean markets. The won fell sharply against the dollar and earlier dropped more than 1% below the 1,420 won level, before paring some of its declines to trade around 1,418 won. The iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY), which tracks Korean stocks was last down 1.8%.
After the National Assembly vote, the Bank of Korea’s Monetary Policy Board announced it would hold an emergency meeting to discuss market stabilization measures for the following day. The Korea Exchange said it would announce at 7:30 a.m. Korean Standard Time whether the stock market would open.
Earlier in the night, the National Assembly had been barricaded by soldiers and police officers, blocking protesters and lawmakers from entering.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said at an event Tuesday that the U.S. is monitoring the situation “with grave concern,” adding that the alliance between the U.S. and South Korea is “ironclad.”