(Note: This article contains satire.)

Recently, the Conservative president of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, made a shock announcement late Tuesday night that he would be declaring Martial Law in the country, and further accused his main political opposition, the Democratic Party, of being “pro-North Korean anti-state forces” and intentionally depriving the people of Korea of their political freedoms. This announcement was made via an entirely unannounced TV Broadcast on YTN Television and led to mass confusion among military units and police forces in the Korean capital of Seoul. After the declaration, special forces units from the Korean Army (ROK) were seen entering the Korean National Assembly building in central Seoul, and several helicopters also either flew above the building or landed on it, dispensing even more special forces teams into the building. However, their deployment led thousands of Koreans to immediately descend upon the National Assembly, with protesters and lawmakers alike successfully pushing the soldiers out of the complex. 

ROK Special Forces soldiers standing outside of the National Assembly complex in central Seoul, SK. (REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji)

After the soldiers were repulsed, 190 lawmakers of the 300-member National Assembly unanimously voted to force the President to rescind the martial law declaration, as stipulated by Korean Law, where the National Assembly can veto the President’s declaration and force him to rescind the order. Three hours later, President Yeol announced that he would be lifting Martial law in the country, with military and police units voluntarily leaving the National Assembly complex at the request of the lawmakers present. The entire episode marks an unexpected turn in the political drama surrounding the unpopular Korean president, with even the armed forces who sided with him reportedly being ill-prepared to try and uphold Martial Law and stop the Legislature from overriding the President’s command. 

Special Forces soldiers from the ROK attempted to breach the National Assembly’s main hall via an upper floor. They were repulsed by Legislative aides, lawmakers, and a man with a fire extinguisher. (Yonhap via REUTERS)

The quickly overturned declaration threw the entire Korean political climate into chaos. Before the declaration, the country was split between the People’s Power Party, which the President is a member of, and a Coalition of mostly left-wing opposition parties like the Democratic Party that held a majority in the National Assembly. Interestingly, the main reason that the President cited for his declaration was, in fact, that very majority. He noted how their majority in the assembly had been interrupting the goals of his administration, with almost every major bill that the PPP attempted to pass being defeated in the Assembly. During midterm elections for the assembly in 2022, the PPP grew their majority and made the President a “lame duck” a position where the President and his party cannot pass any legislation or acts due to the Opposition.

After the events of the declaration settled, the Korean Defense Minister submitted his resignation to the President, and protests are now springing up across Korea calling for the President to either step down or be arrested (in some cases, both). Thanks to the recency of this event, information may rapidly change over the coming months.