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The president of South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol, early Wednesday lifted the martial law he imposed on the country hours earlier, bending to political pressure after a tense night in which troops surrounded parliament and lawmakers voted to reject military rule. In all, martial law was in effect for about six hours.
The president’s surprising move harkened back to an era of authoritarian leaders that the country has not seen since the 1980s, and it was immediately denounced by the opposition and the leader of Yoon’s own conservative party.
Parliament acted swiftly after martial law was imposed, with National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik declaring that the law was “invalid” and that lawmakers would “protect democracy with the people.”
The South Korean president faces impeachment proceedings and calls to resign after his shock declaration of martial law initiated a political crisis. Yoon Suk Yeol claimed the law was needed to guard against “North Korea’s communist forces” – but the move was seen as political.
Asia correspondent Cordelia Lynch, who is in Seoul said, “This is a country with a rich history of protest, and it’s been swift in this particular moment, You’ve got a lot of people gathered here that are willing to stand up to get their voices heard – and they are now on the march.”
“It was terrible, horrible,” she says. “Helicopters floating, soldiers with guns. We’re just normal people, so we were all scared.”
Asked what people wanted to achieve by gathering with candles in Seoul tonight, Ms Jin said: “We want to take back the democracy which is ours, which is written in blood in our history in South Korea.
“We want to recover democracy, so here it is.”
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