On the night of Tuesday December 3 to Wednesday December 4, the South Korean president declared martial law. Large protests broke out across the country. The president finally backed down.
Forty years since martial law had been used. Martial law had not been declared since the late 1980s. This was during the democratization of South Korea. Concretely, martial law allows transfer certain state powers to the armed forces. The objective and usefulness of this maneuver is to restore order in a country or within a specific area. This is an exceptional situation when a State is going through a period of crisis.
Martial law can therefore be used when the authorities are no longer able to maintain security. As a result, when martial law is initiated, the army takes power over certain functions and restricts the freedoms of citizens. Press freedom can also be restricted since the media are placed under government surveillance. Thus, martial law prohibits all political activities within a given time.
South Korea declares martial law
In South Korea, on the night of Tuesday December 3 to Wednesday December 4, the country’s president spoke in a “surprise” speech at 11 p.m. (5 p.m. in Paris). A speech live on television in which, President Yoon Suk Yeal announced martial lawto general amazement. The opposition called on citizens of the Korean Peninsula to show their disagreement with this decision. Demonstrations “erupted” in front of Parliament. The president finally renounced martial law by going “backwards”.
In the country, the situation is tense between the opposition which almost won the last elections and the government. As in France, the debates are complicated about the budget. Last week, South Korea’s main opposition party approved a dramatically reduced budget package. It was enough for President Yoon Suk Yeal to hold his opponents responsible for future problems that could arise in the country. Indeed, the head of state accuses his opponents of wanting “cut all budgets essential to the primary functions of the nation”. According to him, the risk of this decision is to encourage crimes and hinder public security. He then described his opponents as being “forces hostile to the State”.
“A den of legislative dictatorship”
During his speech, President Yoon Suk Yeal chose to initiate martial law to protect South Korea threats from North Korea. He took the opportunity to accuse the South Korean National Assembly of being “a den of legislative dictatorship”: “Our National Assembly has become a refuge for criminals, a den of legislative dictatorship which seeks to paralyze the administrative and judicial systems and overthrow our liberal democratic order”he said.
