On Tuesday, December 3rd, South Korea went into martial law for six hours. Martial law is a power the President has under the Korean constitution to give the President and the military all federal power. It was a hectic and frightening course of events that involved South Korea’s painful past with dictatorships.
At about 10:30 pm the South Korean President, Yoon Suk Yeol, very suddenly declared Martial law and called on troops to secure the National Assembly building. The President’s reasoning for this declaration was to eliminate “anti-state” forces and to protect South Korea from North Korean communist forces.
As soon as martial law took effect, people started to protest outside of the National assembly. People were chanting “Yoon Suk Yeol step down!” and “Withdraw! Withdraw!”. While all of this was happening, busloads of police arrived and helicopters started bringing in troops.
The reason South Korean citizens reacted so quickly to the declaration is that South Korea has a lengthy and violent history with martial law.Martial law has been declared sixteen times since South Korea declared its independence in 1948. This includes the Gwangju-uprising, which was a student protest against President Chun Doohwan who declared martial law in May, 1980. It was estimated that 200 people were killed by military forces. This event was a turning point in South Korea that would eventually lead to the country officially becoming a democracy in 1987.
The South Korean constitution still allows the President to declare martial law, but the National Assembly can overturn the decision with a majority vote.
As martial law began to take effect, lawmakers started to rush to the National Assembly in hopes to hold a quorum and vote against Yeol’s decision. The now massive crowd outside made it extremely difficult for some of the lawmakers to get inside of the building. This included Lee Jae-Myung who live streamed himself climbing over a fence to reach the National Assembly.
Eventually enough lawmakers arrived to meet the 150 people requirement to have a quorum but many arrived too late and couldn’t get to the main chamber because the situation outside of the National Assembly had escalated. Ahn Gwi-ryeong, a Democratic party spokesperson, grabbed a soldier’s rifle and screamed “Aren’t you ashamed?” as the soldier tried to back away.
The parliament finally voted 190-0 against the declaration early Wednesday morning. Even though the lawmakers were strongly opposed to the President’s decision, when announcing martial law was lifted, Yoon still felt strongly about his original motive and criticized the lawmakers.
Now, South Korean lawmakers are pushing for Yoon’s impeachment. Some are pushing for his constitutional powers to be revoked, which could make the impeachment process easier. Yoon also recently was banned from travelling outside the country.
December 3rd, 2024 will go down in history as a day of chaos and bravery, whether or not Yoon will be impeached. This is one of the many events that prove South Koreans value their democracy deeply and will continue to do whatever they can to preserve it.
