South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday night declared martial law in an emergency late-night address, sending shockwaves through the country.
Yoon said that opposition parties had taken the parliamentary process hostage. He vowed to eradicate "shameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces" and added that he took this measure to safeguard constitutional order.
The South Korean military was quoted saying that activities by parliament and political parties would be banned and that media and publishers would be under martial law command.
Not citing any specific threat from the nuclear-armed North Korea, yoon instead focused his address on his domestic political opponents.
For the first time since 1980, 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 currency ‘won’ declined sharply against the U.S. dollar. A central bank official said it was preparing measures to stabilise the market if needed.
Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party, who preceded Yoon as President, said in a post on the social media platform 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."
A White House spokesperson said that the United States is in contact with the South Korean government and is monitoring the situation closely. Close to 29000 US troops are stationed near the border with North Korea.
Yoon warns of North Korean threat
"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.
Yoon did not immediately specify who constituted the pro-North Korean anti-state forces. But he has cited such forces in the past as hindering his agenda and undermining the country.
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