On late Tuesday afternoon of Dec. 3, South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol attempted to enact a martial law order, outraging citizens and his fellow government officials. After lasting less than one day, parliament immediately voted to reject this order, but Yeol now faces impeachment charges as people question his choices.
Martial law is an ability the president holds to protect its country’s citizens by limiting the time people may leave their homes, where they may gather, and overall an increased military presence in order to keep peace. Martial law should only be enacted in “wartime, war-like situations or other comparable national emergency states,” according to CSIS.
“I thought the efficiency with which the martial law was overturned was very fast,” sophomore sophomore Trinity Joa said. “Also, not consulting his fellow officials probably wasn’t the right move in this situation, especially because he is now facing impeachment,”
During the six hours of martial law, South Korean military troops lined the streets and armed forces surrounded Parliament. Government officials openly began to protest, refusing to leave their offices and calling a vote, which unanimously voted to end the order only six hours after it began.
“When I looked into what he called for, I was shocked because the things martial law implemented were very serious and I didn’t understand the reason behind it, especially because South Korea is usually seen as a pretty stable and peaceful country,” Religion and Ethics teacher Clint Hackenburg said. “One of the things that was involved in his declaration was people had to return to work, or else they faced arrest. I was also pretty surprised that he said there was a large-scale infiltration from the north, which I’ve never heard of and thought was a bit far-fetched,”
Yeol claims his reasoning for this order were his opposing political parties and their ‘support’ for communist North Korea, their main rival. At the end of the Korean war in 1953, Korea split into North and South. South Korea, a very stable, advanced, and peaceful country, consistently takes in refugees escaping the north. North Korea believes that Korea is one nation and it is their right to take South Korea back, so the south is in constant stress from their northern neighbors, according to History.
“North Korea is still an incredibly dangerous place, especially for foreigners,” sophomore Laila Kong said. “Most people there have a really poor quality of life and the dictatorship is so strong that if I were to visit, I probably wouldn’t be able to escape,”
Now, Yeol is struggling politically and facing impeachment charges. Many believe that the martial law order was an attempt to seize more power, as he has had a hard time passing laws because the parliament is a majority of his opposing party. Other accusations of his personal life have led Yeol to be a quite unpopular candidate for the next election in 2027, with the Democratic Party already having called for Yeol’s resignation.
South Korea faces a long history of dictatorships and strong, aggressive leaders, which made this martial law order invoke a time in their history many attempt to forget, according to CSIS. In the 1980s, a series of presidents used martial law orders to shut down protests of the government. Some believe this increase of military presence reflected a time when South Korea was not a democracy, according to Hackenburg.
“I don’t think it was justified for Yeol to declare martial law, but we should have seen it coming based on how he was already trying to silence opposition against him,” Joa said. “It makes me wonder why he did it, especially because I think martial law fuels more unrest and unifies people against him more.”
