SEOUL: South Korean military officials said martial law will remain in effect until it is lifted by President Yoon Suk Yeol, despite the parliament’s overwhelming vote on Wednesday to block it.
The martial law will “remain in place until lifted by the president”, Seoul’s military officials said, according to local broadcaster YTN and other local media reports.
South Korea’s parliament, with 190 of its 300 members present, passed a motion early Wednesday (Dec 4) requiring the martial law declared by President Yoon Suk Yeol to be lifted.
The parliament speaker said the martial law declaration by Yoon was invalid.
Yoon said on Tuesday night that opposition parties had taken the parliamentary process hostage.
He vowed to eradicate “shameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces” and said he had no choice but to take the measure to safeguard constitutional order.
Shortly after Yoon made his announcement, people began gathering outside the parliament building, with some of them shouting for martial law to be withdrawn.
Troops were seen trying to enter parliament on Wednesday.
Live television footage showed troops apparently tasked with imposing martial law attempting to enter the assembly building, and parliamentary aides were seen trying to push the soldiers back by spraying fire extinguishers.
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.
Yoon did not cite any specific threat from the nuclear-armed North, instead focusing on his domestic political opponents. It is the first time since 1980 that martial law has been declared in South Korea.
His announcement came as his party and the opposition bicker over the budget.
“To safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements plundering people’s freedom and happiness, I hereby declare emergency martial law,” Yoon said in a live televised address to the nation.
The president did not give details of North Korea’s threats, but South Korea remains technically at war with nuclear-armed Pyongyang.
“With no regard for the livelihoods of the people, the opposition party has paralysed governance solely for the sake of impeachments, special investigations, and shielding their leader from justice,” Yoon added.
“Our National Assembly has become a haven for criminals, a den of legislative dictatorship that seeks to paralyse the judicial and administrative systems and overturn our liberal democratic order,” he said.
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