U-turn on martial law after protests

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was still clinging to power on Thursday, with his party announcing they will oppose an impeachment motion after his short-lived imposition of martial law rang alarm bells across the world.

Yoon suspended civilian rule late on Tuesday and deployed troops and helicopters to parliament only for lawmakers to vote down the measure and force him into a U-turn in a night dominated by high drama.

Seoul’s allies were alarmed and the opposition quickly filed an impeachment motion saying Yoon “gravely violated the constitution and the law”. A vote is set for Saturday at around 7pm.

South Korea’s president replaced his defence minister on Thursday as opposition parties moved to impeach both men over the stunning-but-brief imposition of martial law that brought armed troops into Seoul streets. Martial law lasted about six hours, as the National Assembly quickly voted to overrule the president, forcing his Cabinet to lift it before daybreak on Wednesday.

Yoon Suk-yeol’s declaration of the ‘emergency martial law’ has come as shock to many of the South Koreans, who have not seen martial law in the last 44 years. Political Science Professor Cho Jin-man of Duksung Women’s University said, “Martial law in 21st century South Korea? This is not only outrageous but unthinkable. Ninety-nine per cent of Koreans would oppose it.”

Even the chairman of Yoon’s party, the People’s Power Party, Han Dong-hoon termed the decision of Yoon as “wrong” and he vowed to “stop it with the people”.

President Yoon’s decision came as a counter to the opposition Democratic Party, which holds a majority in parliament, for bringing in impeachment motions against the government auditor and prosecutor, and passed the Budget after paring it down.

The parliamentary deadlock is the immediate trigger for the president’s declaration of the emergency martial law. The president justified his move saying, “I declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free constitutional order.”

The constitution allows for the imposition of emergency when there is an external threat and the breakdown of administration. Many observers are certain that there is no threat from North Korea. The president’s popularity rating had gone down drastically, and the opposition’s majority in parliament has been frustrating for him.

South Korea is seen as one of the democratic allies in east Asia. It is a close ally of the United States, and Washington has been trying to build a pressure group against China comprising South Korea and Japan, the two countries that have been at loggerheads for various historical reasons. The US had been pressuring Seoul to supply ammunition to Ukraine because it sees South Korea as part of the Western alliance of democracies.

The declaration of emergency and martial law is a big embarrassment for the outgoing Biden Administration. It is not clear how President-elect Donald Trump who would take office on January 20 would deal with the turn of events inside one of its close Asian allies.

Yoon has cited the danger of “pro-North Korean” forces in the opposition, which may not hold water. It is true that the opposition Democratic Party had looked for reconciliation with North Korea and to improve ties with a country that has been hostile to South Korea for more than 70 years.

South Korea also views North Korea as a good business opening if the Cold War barriers are broken. But North Korea has responded with caution and scepticism to the overtures from the south. Yoon, a conservative, has played the anti-North Korea card. But the people in South Korea seem to be attached to democracy and they may not be willing to sacrifice their freedoms for the sake of ideology.