The South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is on the verge of impeachment because of toying with martial law.
The President decided on Tuesday night that his country was ripe for martial law, but it seems that he misread the situation.
In the late hours of the night, Yoon addressed the nation, declaring martial law “to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean Communist forces, and to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people,”
He accused the main opposition party, the Korean Democratic Party of sympathizing with the country’s antagonistic Northern neighbours.
But in about three hours, all his effort was rubbished by parliament and the people. The parliament unanimously voted against the decree, by 190 votes to 0.
An attempt to have the army stop the 4.00am parliament session was defeated by mammoth crowds that turned up in the streets and supported parliament.
Now, the president is facing impeachment after members of parliament from the democratic party submitted the motion of impeachment against Yoon.
For the impeachment to sail through, the motion needs the support of a two-thirds’ majority of the 300 MPs.
The opposition Democratic Party has 170 of them, against the government’s 108. Other parties have 22 MPs all together.
In the 190 votes against the martial law, 18 were of the ruling People Power Party.
Martial Law in Korea
Martial law in South Korea is constitutionally allowed in wartime, warlike situations, and other comparable national emergency states.
Martial law can suspend freedoms of the press and assembly, and powers of court.
But by suspending the National Assembly, the president created a power struggle, as the National Assembly has power to overturn the law.
Yoon is unpopular
Critics argue that he had failed to pass any of his legislative agenda and decided to pull the martial law trick on parliament.
In the 2022, Yoon won the Presidential election with 48% against Lee Jae-myung’s 47%, but lost the parliament to the latter.
According to The Washington Post, Yoon declared martial law without the blessing of the United States of America, South Korea’s key ally and guarantor.
