In the last few hours the eyes of the world have been focused on South Koreawhere the December 3, 2024 at hours 10.27pm, the president Yoon Suk Yeol proclaimed the martial law, only to then revoke it a few hours later. In fact, given the firm reactions from both theNational Assembly that of populationmartial law was lifted at 4.30 am of December 4th. Nonetheless, the event profoundly shook both local and international public opinion and cast a long shadow on the internal stability of the Republic of Korea. Let us therefore clarify the reasons behind the choice to introduce martial law and the related consequences.
Why Martial Law in South Korea Has Been Lifted
At 10.27pm (Seoul time) on December 3, 2024with a statement broadcast live by the national television channel YTNand using as a pretext the stalemate that arose in the National Assembly regarding the approval of the budget law for the year 2025the president announced the proclamation of the martial law while ordering the termination of any political demonstration e the arrest of the leaders of the main political groups, accused of “conspire with North Korea and communist forces to subvert the Republic”.
The reaction of both was immediate and contrary people how much gods elected representatives. Regardless of winter temperatures below zero, numerous citizens demonstrated in front of the National Assembly building, defying the military who had arrived on site in the meantime to carry out the arrests ordered by the president. Inside the Assembly, however, the 190 parliamentarians (out of 300 in total) present have voted unanimously (with the decisive support of the parliamentarians of the president’s party) a motion to nullify the declaration of the imposition of martial law while at the same time ordering the soldiers to return to the barracks.
The event released a series of shockwaves both economically and politically. Because of the uncertainty the value of the South Korean won (the country’s official currency) it crashed at the lowest levels for 25 months now, forcing the “Bank of Korea” (the country’s central bank) to intervene. The United States of Americathe country’s Western allies, limited themselves to “express concern” for the situation.
The reasons behind the crisis in South Korea
Although the events in Seoul have shocked the entire world, catching both heads of state and public opinion off guard, an all-out struggle had been underway in South Korea for some time between the president Yoon Suk Yeolexpressed by the ranks of “People Power Party” (PPP)a right-wing formation with markedly conservative tendencies, and theNational Assembly (Parliament) dominated instead by the main opposition party, the “Democratic Party” (DP)of progressive tendencies and led by Lee Jae-myungwho has always been Yoon Suk-yeol’s bitter political rival.
A controversial and very divisive figure, at home and abroad, Yoon Suk-yeol has been president since May 10, 2022after concluding a long career in judiciary which finally saw him preside (between 2019 and 2021) the office of “Attorney General of the Republic of Korea”. His 2 1/2 years in office so far have been characterized by continuity clashes at high institutional levels with the aforementioned National Assembly and by repeated attempts by the judiciary to put a series of his collaborators and confidants in the dockamong whom his wife stands out, Kim Keon-heeaccused in various capacities of being implicated in numerous scandals.
The historical antecedents of martial law
Although the events in Seoul turned out literally like the proverbial “bolt from the blue”a careful examination of the history of the southern half of the Korean peninsula would instead make us appreciate the fact that political crises and military pronouncements they marked the life of South Korea in the first decades of its existence. Between 1948year of the foundation of the Republic, and 1987when the government of the military gave way to democracy, in fact, the regimes that succeeded one another in command proclaimed the imposition of martial law on 16 different occasions. But this is it first time ever that, since the end of the military regimes, a president-elect try to complete a forcing of this type of democratic procedures of the state.
An uncertain future
Even if, for the moment, the attack on democracy seems to have been foiled, we must not believe that the time has come to pull the proverbial “sigh of relief”. It is unanimous opinion in Seoul that President Yoon Suk Yeol he would never have followed the path of coup d’état if he had not had his back covered, and here the finger is pointed in the direction of his main political allies, among whom they deserve to be mentioned: the Minister of the Interior, Lee Sang-minthe minister of defense, Kim Yong-hyun and, above all, the Chief of Staff of the Army, General Park An-su.
In fact, it was precisely the latter, during the hours of the crisis, who was appointed to lead the martial law regime and to order (completely skipping the entire official chain of command) the soldiers of the 1st Airborne Special Forces Brigade and to the men of Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency to take control of the National Assembly and arrest its parliamentarians.
It is too early to say what the future holds but the fact is that South Korea has awakened from this traumatic event a little less stable than it felt before.
