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President of South Korea declares and lifts martial law

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Sunday, December 8, 2024

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Late Tuesday night, in an unannounced speech on local TV at 11 pm local time (14:00 UTC), Yoon Suk Yeol, the president of South Korea, declared martial law. This allowed the military to control the country. The President cited local unrest caused by "anti-state forces" as the motivation. The military law was lifted 4:30 am Wednesday (19:30 UTC on December 3). Thursday morning the National Assembly filed an impeachment motion to be voted on within 72 hours.

President Yoon's speech attributed his decision to impose military law to the National Assembly initiating "22 motions to impeach government officials, and ... pushing for the impeachment of a tenth individual," seeking "to protect the Republic of Korea from the threats of North Korean communist forces, to immediately eradicate the unscrupulous pro-Pyongyang antistate forces that pillage the freedom and happiness of our people and to protect free constitutional order." CNN reported that Yoon's decree of martial law prohibited all political activities.

Lawmakers and demonstrators clashed with soldiers outside the National Assembly building. At around 1:00 am local time (16:00 UTC on December 3), the National Assembly gathered to pass a resolution lifting martial law, voting 190–0.

Around 4:30 am (19:30 UTC on December 3), President Yoon officially announced that martial law was to be lifted as soon as a quorum of the cabinet were established. President Yoon continued to "request the National Assembly to immediately stop its reckless actions that paralyze the functions of the state through repeated impeachment, legislative manipulation, and budget manipulation." Shortly thereafter, the cabinet voted to lift martial law.

Han Dong-hoon, the leader of the conservative People Power Party, of which President Yoon is a member, condemned the declaration, describing it as "wrong" and stating that he would join the opposition and "block it," according to CNN.

On Thursday morning, President Yoon assigned a new military minister — Choi Byung-hyuk — to replace Kim Yong-hyun, who, according to SBS News, allegedly recommended that Yoon declare martial law.


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