South Korean President Declares Martial Law, Parliament Rejects

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law throughout the country, closed the parliament building and assigned the chief of staff to lead the country, while parliament voted against these decisions.

According to the official Yonhap news agency, President Yoon said in a television interview on Tuesday that martial law aims to eliminate pro-North Korean forces and maintain freedom and constitutional order.

In a live speech broadcast on YTN television, Yoon said he would eliminate "blatant anti-state and pro-North Korean forces."

For its part, Reuters said that the South Korean army announced a ban on parliamentary and party activities, and that the media and publishing houses would be under the control of the martial law command.

The instructions also included an order for the striking doctors to return to work within 48 hours, and the Ministry of Defense issued a statement calling on the army leaders to meet and exercise caution and vigilance.

Martial law commander

South Korea's Chief of the General Staff, General Park In-soo, has taken over the martial law command, Yonhap reported.

General Park issued instructions to ban all political events and activities, including protest demonstrations, in the country.

The instructions indicated that violators of martial law decisions may be arrested without the need for a judicial decision.

Parliament votes no

In response, Reuters said that the South Korean parliament voted against the decision to impose martial law, with 190 of its 300 members present.

The opposition called on its representatives to join parliament, and video clips broadcast on social media platforms showed clashes between demonstrators and army forces.

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung denounced the decisions, calling them "illegal," and called on citizens to gather outside parliament to protest them.

"President Yoon Suk-yeol's illegal decision to impose martial law is invalid," Lee said, adding in a speech broadcast live online, "Please go to the National Assembly now. I am going there too."

Yoon's decision came after the opposition Democratic Party rejected the budget bill in parliament, noting that it is the first time since 1980 that martial law has been declared in South Korea.

Martial law is a set of exceptional rules and measures that a state resorts to under emergency circumstances that allow it to temporarily suspend all or some of the laws in force in it, to ward off the dangers to which the country is exposed.

Reactions

In the first reaction to these rapid developments, the Chinese embassy in Seoul called on its citizens in South Korea to exercise "caution."

The embassy said in a statement that it "advises Chinese citizens in South Korea to remain calm, enhance their safety vigilance, limit unnecessary movements and exercise caution when expressing their political views."

A spokesman for the US National Security Council said the Biden administration was "in contact with the government of the Republic of Korea and closely monitoring the situation." Seoul is a key ally of Washington and hosts thousands of US troops.

Source: Agencies