President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea declared emergency martial law on Tuesday night, accusing the opposition of plotting “insurgency” and “trying to overthrow the free democracy.”It was the first martial law declaration in more than four decades in South Korea, which saw the end of a military dictatorship in the late 1980s.
Mr. Yoon, who was elected president in 2022, has been in a near-constant political standoff with the opposition, which controls Parliament, and his government has faced plunging public approval ratings.
In his speech declaring martial law late Tuesday, Mr. Yoon said he was making the move to “defend the free Republic of Korea from the threats of North Korean communist forces and to eradicate the shameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people and to protect the free constitutional order.
Through this emergency martial law, I will rebuild and defend the free Republic of Korea, which is falling into ruin.”
Persons:
Yoon Suk, Yoon, ”
Locations:
South Korea, Republic of Korea, North Korean, Korean