South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol declares 'emergency martial law' but lifts it overnight, with soldiers briefly storming the parliament building



South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol declared emergency martial law on the night of December 3, 2024, saying he would 'eliminate shameless pro-North Korean anti-national forces.' Then, at the National Assembly held on the morning of the 4th, a resolution calling for the lifting of emergency martial law was unanimously passed by 190 lawmakers in attendance, and President Yoon lifted the emergency martial law. This is the first time that emergency martial law has been declared in South Korea since 1980 , and the first time since the country became a democrat in 1987.

尹, 6시간만에 계엄해제 선언...“국회 요구 수용”
https://www.chosun.com/politics/politics_general/2024/12/04/KWKYDZORQ5DVRJRW2VBSRH62BI/

South Korean President 'declares emergency martial law' but then lifts it at a cabinet meeting, confusion continues | NHK | President Yoon Seok-yeol
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20241204/k10014657921000.html

South Korean president declares martial law, National Assembly rejects, military intervention and demonstrations cause chaos | Reuters
https://jp.reuters.com/world/north-korea/CFSEBIS53RPJDJZY3AMKATPU2M-2024-12-03/

President Yoon held an emergency press conference at around 10 p.m. on the 3rd and declared a state of emergency. In his statement , President Yoon criticized the opposition party's successive impeachments of bureaucrats and prosecutors since the inauguration of the Yoon administration, as well as its refusal to agree to the 2025 budget, as 'clearly anti-national acts plotting civil war,' and said, 'National politics are in a state of paralysis.'

The President then announced, 'Dear citizens, I am declaring emergency martial law to protect a free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate once and for all the shameless pro-North Korean, anti-national forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of the Korean people, and to protect the free constitutional order.'

After the President's speech, the Martial Law Command was established and a 'Proclamation' was issued that banned political activities in the National Assembly and political parties, and placed the media and publishing companies under the control of the Command.

Live footage from the Diet was said to have shown troops from the Martial Law Command storming into the building and staff resisting by spraying fire extinguishers.



Amid the chaos, the National Assembly of South Korea met at around 1:00 p.m. on the 4th, with 190 of the 300 members in attendance, passing a motion calling for the president to lift the state of emergency. Reportedly, the ruling party, the People Power Party, also supported the motion to lift the state of emergency.

The South Korean Constitution stipulates that 'When the National Assembly requests the lifting of martial law with the approval of a majority of its current members, the President must lift it.'

Following the passing of a resolution in the National Assembly plenary session calling for the lifting of martial law, the President held a press conference at around 4:30 p.m. on the 4th, announced that the military had been withdrawn, and stated, 'We will accept the National Assembly's request and lift martial law.'

It took about six hours from the time the state of emergency was declared until it was lifted.

South Korea has declared emergency martial law several times in the past. The most recent was on October 18, 1979, and lifted on January 24, 1981, so this was the first time in 33 years that emergency martial law was declared. The previous emergency martial law was during which President Park Chung-hee was assassinated .

On the 4th, the Democratic Party of Korea, the largest opposition party in South Korea, issued a resolution, condemning the president's declaration of emergency law as a clear violation of the Constitution and an act of sedition, and demanding his resignation. If the president does not comply with the request to step down, they will immediately begin impeachment proceedings.

Regarding the reason for this confusion, Rep. Kim Byung-ju of the Democratic Party analyzed that 'there may not have been anyone who could put the brakes on' among the high-ranking officials involved in the decision to declare emergency law.

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