Coup d'état: South Korea has imposed and lifted martial law
On the evening of December 3, South Korean President Yun Seok-yol announced the imposition of martial law in the country amid impeachment attempts. Military vehicles appeared on the streets of Seoul and helicopters appeared in the sky. Later, opposition leader Lee Jae-men said that Yoon Seok-yeol was no longer president and called on citizens to come out to the parliament building, and the parliament was able to vote in favor of lifting martial law. What caused the crisis in power in South Korea and what is happening, "Izvestia" analyzed.
Martial law in South Korea: what it means
South Korean President Yun Seok-yol announced the imposition of martial law in the country during a TV appearance on the evening of December 3. He accused the opposition, which controls the parliament and is trying to conduct impeachment proceedings against him, of sympathizing with the DPRK and paralyzing the government with anti-state activities.
Martial law is necessary to protect the country's constitutional order and root out pro-North Korean forces, Yoon said. "By declaring martial law, I will restore and protect a free South Korea," Yoon said, adding that the decision was "inevitable."
Military vehicles then appeared on the streets and helicopters appeared in the sky. All battalions of the South Korean army were ordered to be on alert.
Officially, the activities of parliament, political parties and associations have been banned until martial law is lifted, the Ryonhap news agency reported Dec. 3, citing the commander of the emergency regime, Army Chief of Staff Park Ahn-soo. The ban also applies to the activities of regional parliaments and the holding of rallies. In addition, due to martial law in the country, control is imposed on all media and publications.
However, later, opposition leader Lee Jae-men said that Yoon Seok-yeol is no longer the president and called on citizens to come out to the parliament building in Seoul. However, South Korean law allows martial law to be lifted if a majority of MPs are in favor. Police supporting the president began storming the parliament building to prevent lawmakers from lifting martial law. However, as a result, South Korea's parliament voted in favor of lifting martial law.
Footage from the scene shows that the parliamentarians blocked the doors to a wing of the building with benches and improvised objects to prevent soldiers from entering. When the soldiers tried to unblock the passage, the crowd sprayed a fire extinguisher in their direction.
The Korean security forces eventually abandoned the parliament, but several dozen armed soldiers remain outside the building.
Meanwhile, Army Chief of Staff Park Ahn-soo signed a decree that violators of martial law in South Korea can be arrested without a warrant.
In turn, Minister of Economy and Finance of the Republic Choi Sang-mok said that the government will take all necessary measures to mitigate the effects of martial law on the country's financial and currency markets.
Also, South Korea's opposition leader called on the military and police not to obey "unconstitutional and illegal" orders of the president, The Korea Herald newspaper reported.
The Russian Embassy in South Korea urges Russians to refrain from participating in mass events, remain calm and follow the instructions of local authorities.
The Sixth Republic of South Korea is a modern period in the history of South Korea, which begins with the formation of a democratic government in 1988 after the end of military rule. The revised constitution provides for a democratic form of government with a president elected by universal suffrage and a unicameral parliament.
Reasons for the coup attempt in South Korea
Since 2020, the opposition Toburo Democratic Party has held a majority of the 300 seats, but that did not help its candidate Lee Jae-men beat Yoon Seok-yeol in the 2022 presidential election. Since then, the government led by the president has been opposed by an opposition-controlled parliament. In April 2024, the country held another parliamentary election. According to their results, the pro-presidential People's Power Party failed to win a majority of votes.
Over the past eight months, the opposition has already made 22 attempts to get various officials to resign.
Earlier, the conservative Yun People's Party reached an impasse in negotiations with the liberal opposition Democratic Party over next year's budget bill.
According to Daria Kurginova, an expert at the Polylog Group and a political scientist, Yoon Seok-yeol has long had a low rating - the lowest among all South Korean presidents - and the topic of his impeachment has been hovering in the air.
"Despite the ruling party's boycott, the Democrats, who have a majority, have become preoccupied with getting the budget through parliament unilaterally. Yoon Seok-yeol is probably tired of negotiating: parrot the opponents, pass the necessary budget and calm down. In the Asian mentality, hasty decisions are not in vogue," Kurginova commented.
If the impeachment attempt does succeed, it will not be the first in the country's history. Earlier, in 2016, the South Korean parliament already made such a decision regarding the leader of the state Park Geun-hye, who together with her closest entourage was involved in a major corruption scandal. The procedure started with the approval of 234 deputies of the national assembly out of 300.
On March 10, 2017, South Korea's Constitutional Court unanimously approved the impeachment, thus removing Park Geun-hye's powers as head of state. Twenty days later, the woman was arrested on charges of bribery, abuse of power, and passing classified information to people who were not government officials. The court initially sentenced her to 24 years in prison and a fine of 18 billion won, but after some revisions, Park Geun-hye was pardoned by then-President Moon Jae-in in 2021.
What South Korean citizens are dissatisfied with
The opposition in South Korea has a lot of popular support. The fact is that in the country in 2023 the lowest birth rate in the world was recorded: 0.72. At the same time, the country is in the lead in life expectancy, yielding not even to other states, but only to two special administrative regions of China - Hong Kong and Macau. In other words, the South Korean electorate is aging, which means that the share of those residents who in their youth advocated just for the democratization of the country against the then-powerful military is growing. Therefore, paradoxically, the age voters in the ROK do not take the conservative approach represented by the pro-presidential "Power of the People."
According to a poll released the day before, President Yoon Seok-yeol's approval rating was only 25 percent. Among parties, the pro-presidential Force of the People had 32.3 percent, while the opposition Democratic Party had 45.2 percent.
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