Stunning martial law decree

The South Korean president’s stunning martial law decree, explained

The National Assembly voted down the decree, but the political crisis isn’t over.

by Ellen Ioanes

South Korea is in the grip of a political crisis after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on Tuesday — a shocking move that sparked mass protests and drew sharp rebuke from the country’s parliament.

Though Yoon has said he will reverse his declaration, that’s unlikely to end South Korea’s political problems, which go beyond Tuesday’s emergency.

Yoon first made the declaration during a televised announcement on Tuesday night local time, claiming that the opposition party to his government was in the midst of an “insurgency” and “trying to overthrow the free democracy,” likely in reference to the political deadlock between himself and the parliament that has prevented him from enacting his agenda. Despite that ongoing gridlock, the move to declare martial law took Yoon’s political opponents, allies, the South Korean public — and the world — by surprise.

Shortly after Yoon’s declaration, South Korea’s parliament, known as the National Assembly, met to unanimously vote down the martial law decree.

“There is no reason to declare martial law. We cannot let the military rule this country,” opposition leader Lee Jae-myung said Tuesday. “President Yoon Suk Yeol has betrayed the people. President Yoon’s illegal declaration of emergency martial law is null and void.” Martial law typically involves the suspension of civilian government and rule by military decree in a major emergency, such as intense armed conflict.

Despite Yoon’s pledge to lift his declaration, the country is still in limbo. What comes next is unclear.

Here is what you need to know.

Why did the president declare martial law?

Yoon only spoke in broad strokes about his decision. However, it’s possible that his declaration was influenced by his dwindling public support, political gridlock, and an ongoing ethics investigation into his wife over a handbag alleged to be an improper gift.

The conservative Yoon is in the second year of his five-year term; during his tenure, his approval rating has fallen below 20 percentage points. He’s also been deadlocked with the National Assembly, which is controlled by the center-left Democratic Party, over his political agenda.

Yoon “certainly is unpopular and frustrated by an inability to do politics,” Celeste Arrington, director of the George Washington Institute for Korean Studies, told Vox.

Yoon “has used an unprecedented number of presidential vetoes” to try and push his agenda through, Arrington said. “He’s also launched politically motivated prosecutions of the opposition party. Meanwhile, the opposition party has tried to impeach dozens of members of this government and has launched investigations into the first lady. So this [political battle] was back and forth and back and forth, building.”

Yoon did explicitly claim that North Korean elements played a role in his decision to declare martial law, though there’s no actual evidence of North Korea playing a role in the present crisis. Instead, his reference to North Korea may refer to the major political divide between the country’s two main parties on whether and how to engage with their totalitarian and belligerent northern neighbor.

What does martial law in South Korea entail?

Under martial law, the executive branch is allowed to take control of the media, and Yoon ordered the country’s medical personnel, who have been on strike for much of the year, back to work within 48 hours. It’s not clear to what extent those measures were put into place.

Furthermore, political activity, including political party meetings and rallies, is supposed to cease. This was obviously disregarded: The National Assembly met, and protests continued through the night.

Armed guards surrounded the National Assembly building Tuesday night; 190 members of the 300-member body showed up to unanimously vote down the measure, with some scaling the fence around the building to do so, the Wall Street Journal reported.

What has the reaction been?

Yoon’s declaration has been almost universally unpopular within South Korea. Citizens showed up to protest — even engaging in clashes with security forces.

Both the opposition leader and the leader of Yoon’s own party denounced Yoon’s decision. “It’s an illegal, unconstitutional declaration of martial law that does not meet the requirements,” said Han Dong-hoon, a former justice minister and leader of Yoon’s People Power Party. “South Korea is a democratic country. We will protect democracy alongside our citizens.”

The US, a longtime ally of South Korea, said it did not know about Yoon’s declaration before it came.

“We have every hope and expectation that any political disputes will be resolved peacefully and in accordance with the rule of law,” US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said Tuesday.

What’s next?

Yoon has said he would lift the martial law declaration in accordance with the National Assembly’s vote, as he is constitutionally required to do. The cabinet agreed to lift the order early Wednesday morning local time, and protesters have begun to disperse.

However, this is not the end of the crisis, Gi-Wook Shin, director of the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University, told Vox.

“The decision [to declare martial law] appears to be an attempt to assert authority in a climate where his favorability has been declining, but this is basically political suicide as it risks being seen as an overreach of power and might lead to him facing impeachment,” Shin said.

Indeed, an opposition lawmaker from a smaller party has already called for Yoon’s impeachment.

Regardless of what happens to Yoon, polarization between the two main parties and high levels of public dissatisfaction with politics remain, Arrington told Vox.

“Neither side is particularly popular; the public trust in both the conservatives and the progressives is low,” she said. “There’s a deep frustration with the way democratic institutions are functioning, in particular the political parties and the National Assembly.” And the end of the martial law crisis does nothing to change that reality.