At 10:28 pm on Tuesday 3 December 2024, in a surprise urgent public address, President Yoon Suk-Yeol declared the imposition of martial law. “I will wipe out anti-state forces as soon as possible and normalize the country’s operation,” Yoon stated in the televised briefing, adding that “through martial law, I will defend and rebuild the Republic of Korea’s freedom that is suffering a downward spiral.”
His move prohibited “all political activities, including the activities of the National Assembly, local councils, political parties, and political associations, as well as assemblies and demonstrations”, while “placing all media and publications under the control of the Martial Law Command.” The martial law decree also ordered the striking doctors to go back to work.
Catching the country by surprise, chaos quickly erupted as military troops tried to seize control of the National Assembly building as parliamentary aides sprayed fire extinguishers to push them back while protesters scuffled with police outside. But parliament moved swiftly. Under Article 77 of the South Korean constitution, the National Assembly can request martial law to be lifted with a majority vote of its total number of members. Ultimately, 190 out of 300 lawmakers were able to reach the main hall and voted at around 1 am on Wednesday, 4 December 2024, to unanimously demand the president to lift martial law. By 4:20am, President Yoon announced his decision to comply and martial law was lifted again.
It is still too early to be able to predict what the complete fallout of President Yoon’s martial law will be. The only certainty is that South Korea is likely entering a period of political instability and uncertainty in a time of shifting global dynamics where their active cooperation and support in international affairs would be highly welcomed.
Author: Natalia Kearney Fang, EIAS Junior Researcher