Reuters:South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in a surprise late-night TV address on Tuesday, slamming domestic political opponents and sending shockwaves through the country.
Yoon said opposition parties had taken the parliamentary process hostage.
He vowed to eradicate “shameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces” and said he had no choice but to take the measure to safeguard constitutional order.
Yonhap news agency cited the military as saying activities by parliament and political parties would be banned, and that media and publishers would be under the control of the martial law command.
Yoon did not cite any specific threat from the nuclear-armed North, instead focusing on his domestic political opponents. It is the first time since 1980 that martial law has been declared in South Korea.
South Korea has had a series of authoritarian leaders early in its history but has been considered democratic since the 1980s.
The Korean won was down sharply against the US dollar. A central bank official said it was preparing measures to stabilise the market if needed.
South Korea’s parliament, with 190 of its 300 members present, passed a motion requiring the martial law declared by President Yoon to be lifted, live TV showed.
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok has convened an emergency meeting among top economic officials, his spokesman said in a text message.
Yoon’s predecessor, Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party (DP), said in a post on X that the country’s democracy is in crisis. “I hope that the National Assembly will act quickly to protect our democracy from crumbling,” he wrote in a post.
“I ask the people to join forces to protect and save democracy and to help the National Assembly function normally.”
The United States is in contact with the South Korean government and is monitoring the situation closely, a White House spokesperson said.
Some 28,500 US troops are stationed in South Korea to guard against the North. A spokesman for the US military command did not answer repeated phone calls.
Japan’s prime minister’s office could not immediately be reached for comment outside of business hours.
Yoon slams parliament
“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.
