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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Developing Situation: South Korea’s President Declares Martial Law

Developing Situation: South Korea’s President Declares Martial Law

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Breaking, via the BBC:

“In the last half hour, the president of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, has declared martial law.

In an unannounced late night television address he says the move is necessary to protect the country from North Korea’s communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements.

Yoon said the decision was made to remove pro-North Korea forces from the country and to protect the liberal constitutional order.

Yoon said he had no choice but to resort to martial law, but did not say in the address what specific measures will be taken.

The Yonhap News Agency is reporting that the leader of South Korean opposition Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, has said the declaration of martial law is unconstitutional.

Yonhap is also reporting that Han Dong-hoon, the head of the ruling People Power Party – of which President Yoon Suk Yeol is a member – has also vowed to block the declaration, describing it as ‘wrong’.”

I don’t follow Korean politics, but various international relations academics on Bluesky seem to agree with the reporting above – Yoon is going rogue here, but it’s not yet clear why. Feels like yet more bad news for democracy.

If any of our Jackals in Asia are still awake and can shed light on this situation (or if you’re up to speed on Korea), please chime in below.

ETA: Baud found a subject-matter expert on Bluesky, one Karl Friedhoff of the Chicago Council on Foreign Affairs. He appears to be providing a credible explainer about the background of the situation here, which will sound very familiar to us all: right-wing president elected on a narrow margin with an administration facing corruption investigations goes for a desperate move to hold onto power. All very ominous.

Link to one of the more hopeful posts in Friedhoff’s otherwise quite bleak thread:

Prepare for MASSIVE protests. I’d venture the coming protests will outdo those that saw Park Geun-Hye removed from power. One thing about Koreans: they will absolutely not be cowed. They’ve overthrown dictatorship and removed a president from power, all with largely peaceful protests.

— Karl Friedhoff (@kfriedhoff.bsky.social) December 3, 2024 at 2:28 PM

You know they’re taking notes down at Mar-a-Lago. Americans opposed to this kind of thing should be taking notes, too.

ETA 11:35 a.m. EST: Further reports indicate that 190 members of the 300-member SK National Assembly were able to convene in spite of an apparent blockade of the building. Everyone present voted to lift the martial law, and Yoon must, by law, comply. Protesters have gathered in the streets. Whether this actually resolves the situation remains to be seen, but it’s very inspiring to see a legislative body immediately smack this shit down. Best of luck to the Koreans.

Reader Interactions

112Comments

  2. 2.

    Jeffg166

    Another I have to suspend democracy to protect it. I wonder how the military feel about his move.

  3. 3.

    Rose Judson

    @TaMara: Shit. I hope he’s able to stay out of any unrest that results from this and get back home safely.

    The BBC is now reporting, via the link above, that the military is blocking access to the parliamentary building.

  4. 4.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Rose Judson:

    The BBC is now reporting, via the link above, that the military is blocking access to the parliamentary building.

    Yeesh.  Not good at all.

  7. 7.

    raven

    “According to South Korean law, the government must lift martial law if the majority of National Assembly demands in a vote.
    The same law also prohibits martial law command from arresting lawmakers.”

  12. 12.

    MattF

    From NYT:

    Army Gen. Park An-soo, who was appointed martial law commander, banned “all political activities,” including political party activities and citizens’ rallies.

    Dec. 3, 2024, 9:56 a.m. ET5 minutes ago

    Choe Sang-Hun

    Reporting from Seoul

    “All news media and publications are under the control of martial law command,” Gen. Park said in a martial law decree that he said took effect at 11 p.m. The edict also banned labor activities and spreading “fake news.” Those who violate the decree can be arrested without a court warrant, it said.

  13. 13.

    Baud

    Via Bluesky. As always, be cautious of hot takes.

    If you’re anywhere but D.C., Yoon’s presidency has been a disaster from the jump. His recent polling numbers reinforce that. He has been mired in the low-20s. He has long been underwater with almost every demographic. Those numbers are about to get much, much worse.

    [image or embed]
    — Karl Friedhoff (@kfriedhoff.bsky.social) Dec 3, 2024 at 9:22 AM

     
    ETA: Fixed grammer

  14. 14.

    sab

    OT Anybody in NE Ohio want a meetup before winter really sets in? I am in Akron but I can drive elsewhere.

  16. 16.

    YY_Sima Qian

    WTF? Yoon is a reactionary w/ rock bottom approval ratings, won his election by the slimmest of margins & only because the Left split their vote, & known to be roguish, but this is…

    WTF?!!

  19. 19.

    Old School

    Here’s additional information from the BBC:

    Yoon has been a lame duck president since the latest general election when the opposition won a landslide.

    He was not able to pass the laws he wanted, instead, he was reduced to vetoing desperately any bills that the opposition had been passing.

    Yoon is also mired in several scandals, mainly one around his wife, who is accused of corruption. She is also accused of influence peddling. The opposition has been trying to launch a special investigation against her.

    This week, the opposition slashed budgets that the government and ruling party had put forward – and the budget bill cannot be vetoed.

    In the same week, the opposition is moving to impeach cabinet members, mainly the head of the government audit agency, for failing to investigate the first lady.

    Yoon has gone for the nuclear option – he claims it is to restore order when “anti-state” forces he says are trying to paralyse the country.

  23. 23.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Baud: Well, like Shinzo Abe of Japan, Yoon has received hagiographic praise in DC by Dems & Repubs alike because he is more confrontation w/ NK, more (but not fully) collaborative w/ Japan & the US against the PRC. One more example of the pathologies of pursuing Primacy end up favoring reactionary forces at home & abroad.

    OTOH, perhaps by declaring Martial Law Yoon can circumvent SK law & export weapons to Ukraine???

  25. 25.

    Spanky

    @YY_Sima Qian:

    OTOH, perhaps by declaring Martial Law Yoon can circumvent SK law & export weapons to Ukraine???

    Uh,  sure, although I suspect it’s kinda low on his priorities.

  27. 27.

    Rose Judson

    @Baud: Thanks for finding that guy. He’s an Asian studies fellow at a big think-tank, so likely has decent info about the background of the situation here.

    Starting to look like Yoon pulled a Trump move to stop his wife (and himself) from being investigated.

  31. 31.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @SpanKy The world is falling apart in front of our eyes at frightening speed, I am grasping at straws for silver linings.

  33. 33.

    Chris

    Uh.

    UH.

    This seems really, really bad.

    I clearly don’t follow Asian politics enough: I didn’t have this in my bingo cards.

  37. 37.

    Baud

    The short of this up front: this is the end of Yoon's presidency. Full stop. He had a razor thin margin in the National Assembly–8 votes I believe–to prevent impeachment. That margin will disappear. The only question is how his presidency will end and how much violence it will entail.— Karl Friedhoff (@kfriedhoff.bsky.social) Dec 3, 2024 at 9:19 AM

  38. 38.

    sab

    We need to remember that most of Korea’s industrial class leaders were fine with the Japanese invasion during WWI I, and that the 90% who were not industrial class leaders remember that with bitterness.

    There is a reason that Korean parliamentary sessions break out in fist fights. There is a lot of historical anger there.

  40. 40.

    Chris

    @Baud:

    I assume that “if you’re anywhere but DC” bit means we’ve been fans of him on account of a hard line towards North Korea and towards Vlad the Impaler?

    Which I can understand, but, heh, that doesn’t quite make up for this.

  42. 42.

    Baud

    Prepare for MASSIVE protests. I'd venture the coming protests will outdo those that saw Park Geun-Hye removed from power. One thing about Koreans: they will absolutely not be cowed. They've overthrown dictatorship and removed a president from power, all with largely peaceful protests.— Karl Friedhoff (@kfriedhoff.bsky.social) Dec 3, 2024 at 9:28 AM

  44. 44.

    sab

    @Baud: Canadian threat is laughable in US. They know us and fear us and know they are 10%  of us in any meaningful military measure.

  45. 45.

    Chris

    @YY_Sima Qian:

    @SpanKy The world is falling apart in front of our eyes at frightening speed, I am grasping at straws for silver linings.

    “The bad news is that you’re going to live as a statue for eighty years on a strange planet.”
    “What’s the good news?”
    “Chiana and I are having fantastic sex.”

  48. 48.

    matt

    it’s almost like there’s some kind of pattern with these right wing parties, can’t put my finger on it.

  50. 50.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Yoon isn’t doing this on his own, he must have some support for Martial Law from at least parts of the SK natsec apparatus. Parliamentary police has already blocked off the parliamentary compound, so not sure  how a vote overturning martial law can take place, absent massive street action (which the SKians are quite experienced in) putting pressure on the martial law authorities:

    (LEAD) Martial law command announces decree banning political activities

    Defense 00:14 December 04, 2024
    By Lee Minji

    SEOUL, Dec. 4 (Yonhap) — A military command, launched with the declaration of martial law by President Yoon Suk Yeol late Tuesday, announced a decree banning all political activities, including protests and activities by political parties.

    The decree issued by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Park An-su, a four-star general who has been named to lead the command, had gone into effect as of 11 p.m. Tuesday.

    “All political activities, including those related to the National Assembly, regional assemblies, political parties, the forming of political organizations, rallies and protests are banned,” Park said.

    Park said the decree has been proclaimed nationwide to defend free democracy and the safety of people from anti-state forces threatening to overthrow the country.

    The decree also puts all media and publishers under control, in addition to ordering trainee doctors on a walkout to immediately return to work within 48 hours.

    “The act of denying free democracy or attempting a subversion is banned; fake news, manipulating public opinion and false instigation is banned,” Park said.

    Those who violate martial law can be arrested or raided without a warrant, according to the decree.

    With the declaration of martial law, the commander oversees administrative and legal affairs in the affected region and can take special measures on areas including arrest, seizure, media and collective action when necessary.

    By law, the commander is supervised by the defense minister but is under presidential supervision when martial law is issued across the country or when there is a need to do so.

    May the South Koreans serve as inspiration for Americans, because you know Trump will be inspired by Yoon.

  51. 51.

    YY_Sima Qian

    In the meantime, I’d like to be unplugged from the simulation now, no need to experience nuclear fire.

  52. 52.

    Steve LaBonne

    The head of Yoon’s party has come out against the coup. I'm sure this will inspire our Republicans to defend democracy.

  58. 58.

    sab

    @sab: So we go after trans people, who are a tiny fraction of us but make the religious right folks, Catholic and Evangelical, go insane.

    I have a trans niece yet I like JK Rowling’s books (Strike yes Potter no). I want to hit her (Rowling) upside her head with a two by four just to knock sense into her head.

    I love her Strike books and still have a hard time accepting that she wrote them.

  60. 60.

    Bupalos

    @sab: well my woodpile says might be a little late on that whole “before winter sets in” thing. But I’d be interested in comparing NEO notes IRL.

  61. 61.

    Chris

    @matt:

    It’s not quite universal – Chavez/Maduro in Venezuela and Ortega in Nicaragua were both left-wingers, so’s Morales in Bolivia who’s been trying to follow in their footsteps, and so I believe was Duterte in the Philippines.

    In the West (if our developed East Asian allies like Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea can be included in that package), though, it’s universally a right-wing problem.

    (And even in these other places, the right wing opposition generally isn’t any better than the left-wing autocrat.  They’re just less competent about it, and/or were beaten to the punch).

  63. 63.

    Chris

    @sab:

    My absolute favorite thing about the Cormoran Strike books is that she wrote them under a male pseudonym.  (And of course she published that other series under “JK” rather than “Joanne” because she wanted to keep the gender ambiguous).

  67. 67.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Steve LaBonne: Yoon has been a rogue w/in the SK right wing. He only joined the right wing party in 2022, shortly before winning the SK Presidential election. Before that, as a prosecutor he had been pivotal in convicting two former SK Presidents from the right wing (Park Geun-hye & Lee Myung-bak). The previous left wing President Moon appointed Yoon as Prosecutor General, & Yoon proceeded to investigate close associates of Moon.

    So, no surprise that Yoon has few allies among the senior ranks of the right wing party, especially given is abysmal approval rating, but he must have some allies in the SK military & security services to try martial law.

  70. 70.

    sab

    @Chris: Well her grown up book under her own name (which I quite liked)  got panned. She realized that women in the world don’t get a fair break.

  71. 71.

    Bupalos

    @YY_Sima Qian: Oh no. I pretty much count on you to know and explain what is up and fill in holes in my global political knowledge …. And you’re pulling a “WTF??!”

  73. 73.

    Baud

    If SK takes Yoon down hard in the next few weeks, maybe that’ll have a deterrent/inspirational effect here.

  77. 77.

    sab

    @rikyrah: Pretty much yes. Only two windows still need curtains. Turkey Days one and two were amazing, but then the basement plumbing backed up, forcing the satby boy cat upstairs where he discovered that my husband is not scary but actually cat friendly.

    So yes. We are good.

  78. 78.

    Bupalos

    @sab: oh lordy yes. I mean, I can’t really let you load wood and drive it to me, but I can come get it. As long as I’m allowed to buy your drinks if there’s a meetup.

  79. 79.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Chris: Duterte was a populist, not left wing. Unlike Marcos, Jr. (current Filipino President, son of the infamous Ferdinand Marcos), though, he came from humble origins. His daughter, Sarah Duterte, is currently VP of the Philippines. Marcos, Jr. won the last election w/ the help of an alliance w/ the Dutertes, but that alliance has fallen apart. Sarah Duterte just announced that she has taken out a contract on Marcos, Jr.’s life, to be executed in the even of her death (presumably on the orders of Marcos, Jr.). Two powerful & corrupt families duking it out.

    Like Yoon, Abe & Modi, Marcos, Jr. have received hagiographic bipartisan praise in DC, for taking a more confrontation stance against the PRC (though he has good cause, given the assertive grey zone tactics the PRC employs in the South China Sea at the Philippines’ expense), but he is reactionary, kleptocratic, & show authoritarian tendencies.

  82. 82.

    Bupalos

    @Baud: In 2016 after the election there were two people in my anti fracking group that earnestly argued that Obama had a duty to drone-strike Trump.

    of course one of them is now an RFK conspiracy freak.

  83. 83.

    sab

    @sab: I do not know why she is nuts on trans because she has been pretty much tolerant bordering on accepting in her books. My guess is daddy issues combined with an extremely abusive first marriage. Then she found support in a different toxic environment.

  85. 85.

    Chris

    @YY_Sima Qian:

    My understanding was that Duterte’s part of the political spectrum was what passed for “the left” in Filipino politics.  (With the Marcos part being what passes for “the right.”)  In practice, they’re both political machines and patronage networks leading up to, as you say, the two powerful families duking it out, but it wouldn’t be the first time a left-wing party’s ended up being that.

  91. 91.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @MattF: i tried the embed  function from blue sky to Facebook last week. I found that in the 3 dots. I didn’t have bauds instructions, and it did not work.
    So I tried the icon that looks like download, with the arrow and the bottom of a square. That let me copy link, then I could paste. Worth a try.

  93. 93.

    sab

    @rikyrah: She desperately misses her family but otherwise she is happy. Akron Ohio is a hick town and Richmond Virginia is a big city, so she is kind of okay. Sprung from the boondocks but she misses us.

  95. 95.

    sab

    @sab: responding to rikyrah: She is living with her boyfriend since they were  fourteen. I like him a lot but I am no judge of character.

    But she is not alone.

  96. 96.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @Chris: The political party Rodrigo Duterte hails from was founded on nominally socialist democratic & democratic socialist principles, but had been shifting right for years, & under Duterte it had morphed into a monstrosity via synthesis of life wing populist rhetoric and right wing populist policies.

  100. 100.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    One thing about Koreans: they will absolutely not be cowed. They’ve overthrown dictatorship and removed a president from power, all with largely peaceful protests.

    Back in my intel officer days, I spent time in South Korea and watched first hand how protesters in Seoul operate.  They don’t take shit from anybody.

  101. 101.

    YY_Sima Qian

    Fortunately, it seems this gambit was an act of desperation on the part of Yoon:

    Michelle Ye Hee Lee
    @myhlee

    So Yoon declared the martial law because the liberals were “paralyzing” the government… nothing like an emergency martial law for the first time in 44 years to un-paralyze them and spur them to their chamber at 12:40am to vote against the declaration.

    Jeffrey Lewis had some hilarious running commentary:

    Dr. Jeffrey Lewis
    @ArmsControlWonk

    I don’t think Yoon is either clever enough or charismatic enough to successfully coup the ROK but … I guess he’s going to try.

    It’s probably not a great sign for Yoon’s coup that ROK media appears to be operating freely.

    This is (a) awesome and also (b) evidence that the Army isn’t trying very hard. You don’t let the 60-year old leader of the opposition climb over the barricade if you are serious about carrying out a coup d’etat.

    Stick a fork in Yoon, he’s done. No one is going to kill for this wierdo.

    Again, in a competent coup, one doesn’t allow state media to cover your opponents nullifying your decree of martial law. This man is a dipshit.

    Soldiers are now leaving Assembly Hall. I am going to sleep, slightly reassured.

  104. 104.

    Another Scott

    @Baud:

    Yonhap – about 35 minutes ago:

    (LEAD) Nat’l Assembly votes to demand lifting of martial law
    Lee Haye-ah, 이해아
    Lee Haye-ah
    Politics 01:16 December 04, 2024

    (ATTN: UPDATES with details)

    SEOUL, Dec. 4 (Yonhap) — The National Assembly voted Wednesday to demand President Yoon Suk Yeol lift emergency martial law.

    Under the Constitution, martial law must be lifted when a parliamentary majority demands it.

    Of the 300 members of parliament, 190 were present and all 190 voted in favor of a motion demanding the lifting of martial law.

    With the motion’s passage, the martial law declaration is void, according to the parliamentary speaker’s office.

    All martial law troops leave parliamentary building: Assembly speaker

    Things seem to be moving very, very quickly. And the good guys and gals are standing up.

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  107. 107.

    Chris

    @Spanky:

    Now back to all things Hunter Biden.

    Just went to the CNN “live updates!” feed on the South Korea story.  Literally the second post down:

    “Biden Administration caught by surprise by South Korea developments.  […]  Given the extraordinary move — and the close alliance between the two countries — even some inside the administration are expressing surprise at the silence so far.  One senior official who works in the foreign policy space tells CNN the absence strikes them as “pretty insane.” […]  Many in the Biden administration appears to have been caught by surprise by the turn of events.

    You literally can’t parody this shit.

    (Don’t worry.  The article just above it is much more substantial: “Instability in South Korea could impact the U.S. both geopolitically and economically, CNN military analyst says.”  Well, now we have a firm grasp of the obvious…)

  109. 109.

    Geminid

    @Chris: I’m not surprised U.S. officials are slow to respond. They are preoccupied with keeping the ceasfire in Lebanon from collapsing while figuring out what to do about the suddenly revived Syrian civil war.

    And our ambassador in Seoul might have passed on a correct appraisal that Yoon’s coup would flop.

  110. 110.

    Kirk

    More background.

    from https://bsky.app/profile/heesoojang.bsky.social who says:

    I was preparing to pitch an op-ed on the nationwide protests calling for President Yoon’s resignation, aiming to provide global context amid the limited international coverage.

    Given the urgency, I’m sharing it now. I didn’t expect events to escalate this quickly. #SouthKorea #Democracy

    The article he links is here.

  111. 111.

    Another Scott

    The President backed down. His future is in even more doubt now.

    Reuters.com:

    A spokesman for Yoon did not respond to repeated phone calls.

    Yoon’s move comes as South Korea tries to shore up its position before the Jan. 20 inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who clashed with Yoon’s predecessor over trade and paying for U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.

    “For a president who has focused so much on South Korea’s international reputation, this makes South Korea look very unstable,” said Mason Richey, a professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul. “This will have a negative effect on financial and currency markets and South Korea’s diplomatic place in the world.”

    One Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive politics, said the martial law declaration would complicate conversations about South Korea joining more multinational diplomatic efforts.

    Jenny Town of the U.S.-based Stimson Center think tank said the move appeared “desperate and dangerous” and could spell the beginning of the end of Yoon’s presidency.

    “He was already unpopular, but this might just be the final straw to move impeachment processes forward,” she said.

    [ womp, womp ]

    The Won is already recovering.

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

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