South Korean lawmakers on Wednesday called for the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, after he declared martial law only to reverse the move hours later. This has triggered the biggest political crisis in decades in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
South Korea’s Yonhap has also reported that six South Korean opposition parties planned to submit a bill early on Wednesday afternoon calling for President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment on December 6 or 7. The date is to be announced soon.
The surprise declaration late on Tuesday ignited a standoff with parliament which rejected his attempt to ban political activity and censor the media, as armed troops forced their way into the National Assembly building in Seoul.
Yoon To Be Impeached?
A coalition of lawmakers from opposition parties said they planned to propose a bill to impeach Yoon on Wednesday which should be voted down within 72 hours.
“The parliament should focus on immediately suspending the president’s business to pass an impeachment bill soonest,” Hwang Un-ha, one of the MPs in the coalition, told reporters.
Yoon’s chief of staff and senior secretaries offered to resign en masse, a presidential official said.
Yoon told the nation in a TV address that martial law was needed to defend the country from nuclear-armed North Korea and pro-North anti-state forces, and protect its free constitutional order, although he cited no specific threats.
President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office later said on Wednesday that a declaration of martial law by Yoon late on Tuesday was justified and within the bounds of the constitution. The office denied that martial law forces had interfered with lawmakers’ access to parliament.
Protests Against Martial Law
Chaotic scenes ensued as helmeted troops climbed into the parliament building through smashed windows and military helicopters hovered overhead. Parliamentary aides sprayed fire extinguishers to push the soldiers back, and protesters scuffled with police outside.
The military said activities by parliament and political parties would be banned, and that media and publishers would be under the control of the martial law command.
But within hours of the declaration, South Korea’s parliament, with 190 of its 300 members present, unanimously passed a motion requiring martial law be lifted, including all 18 members present from Yoon’s party. The president then rescinded the declaration.
Protesters outside the National Assembly shouted and clapped. “We won!” they chanted, and one demonstrator banged on a drum.
Yoon’s Resignation
More protests are expected on Wednesday with South Korea’s largest union coalition, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, planning to hold a rally in Seoul and vowing to strike until Yoon resigns.
The U.S. embassy urged U.S. citizens in South Korea to avoid areas where protests were taking place, while some major employers including Naver Corp 035420.KS and LG Electronics Inc 066570.KS advised employees to work from home.
Financial markets were volatile with South Korean stocks .KS11 falling around 2% early on Wednesday, while the won KRW= steadied to trade around 1,418 to the dollar, having plunged to a two-year low.
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok and Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong held emergency meetings overnight and the finance ministry promised to prop up markets if needed.
“We will inject unlimited liquidity into stocks, bonds, short-term money market as well as forex market for the time being until they are fully normalised,” the government said in a statement.
South Korea’s foreign exchange authorities were suspected of selling U.S. dollars on the onshore market early on Wednesday to limit a decline in the won, two dealers said.
Dodged A Bullet
The main opposition Democratic Party called for Yoon, who has been in office since 2022, to resign or face impeachment over the martial law declaration, the first in South Korea since 1980.
“Even if martial law is lifted, he cannot avoid treason charges. It was clearly revealed to the entire nation that President Yoon could no longer run the country normally. He should step down,” senior DP member of parliament Park Chan-dae said in a statement.
The National Assembly can impeach the president if more than two-thirds of lawmakers vote for it. A trial is then held by the constitutional court, which can confirm it with a vote by six of the nine justices.
Yoon’s party controls 108 seats in the 300-member legislature.
International Alarm
If Yoon resigned or was removed from office, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo would fill in as leader until a new election was held.
“South Korea as a nation dodged a bullet, but President Yoon may have shot himself in the foot,” said Danny Russel, vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute think tank in the United States.
The crisis in a country that has been a democracy since the 1980s, and is a U.S. ally and major Asian economy, caused international alarm.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he welcomed Yoon’s decision to rescind the martial law declaration.
“We continue to expect political disagreements to be resolved peacefully and in accordance with the rule of law,” Blinken said in a statement.
