SEOUL, Dec 4 (Reuters) - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Wednesday he would move to lift a martial law declaration he had imposed just hours before, honoring a parliamentary vote against the measure. Yoon declared martial law on Tuesday to thwart “anti-state forces” among his opponents. But outraged lawmakers rejected the decree, as protesters gathered outside parliament in the country’s biggest political crisis in decades. Yoon’s surprise declaration, which he cast as aimed at his political foes, was unanimously voted down by 190 lawmakers in the parliament. Under South Korean law, the president must immediately lift martial law if parliament demands it by a majority vote. His own party urged him to lift the decree. 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.
“Ummm, just testing democracy. Well done everyone!” <cough>
I’m trying to wrap my head around this, partly because I haven’t been following Korean politics as of late. From Reuters on an earlier article :
SEOUL, Dec 3 (Reuters) - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on Tuesday for the first time in the country since 1980. Below is a Reuters translation of the military decree: "In order to protect liberal democracy from the threat of overthrowing the regime of the Republic of Korea by anti-state forces active within the Republic of Korea and to protect the safety of the people, the following is hereby declared throughout the Republic of Korea as of 23:00 on December 3, 2024
Maybe it’s too early to know, but does anyone have the faintest idea what is meant by “anti-state forces”? Is this just a ham-fisted power grab that failed, or is there any legitimacy to that claim? I’m missing ALL the context here.
Parliament wanted to cut his budget. That’s why he declared martial law.
What a weak snowflake move. Declares martial law because he doesn’t get what he wants.
All these far right regimes and actions … they are all just slowly massaging and conditioning all of us everywhere for what’s to come in the next few years.
They push us to the right, we push back but not enough and they’ve gained an inch … but they keeping doing it again and again until they’ve gained a mile.
And the Fascists keep seeing other authoritarian regimes get away with something, and think to themselves, “well if they can get away with that… What can I get away with?”
I generally hate to make everything about us, but I can’t imagine this having happened had Israel and the US not have successfully succombed to their fascist tendancies in current events.
Democratic ideals are in direct conflict with ideologies of “because I can” might makes right.
I doubt this is over, but I hope it isn’t overlooked that this right wing authoritarian coup was only extinguished because the parliament members successfully climbed over fences to vote it down in the face of military force threats.
It really exemplifies the fragility of democracy and civil rights, and the need for active defense of them.
Still not understanding what happened today. Was president Yoon drunk?
He’s handcuffed by an opposition led legislature and he and his wife are under investigation over influence pedaling and general corruption.
Say, that sounds familiar 🤔
… he would move to lift a martial law declaration …
Dude can just go on TV and declare it, how come he can’t go on TV and undeclare it? What’s taking so long?
Possibly there’s autonomous actions required when martial law is declared that take some time to undo? Like taking a tent out of the box, it takes way longer to get it back in, if it ever does.
I’m only guessing, I honestly have no idea what it entails.
They explained that it took a majority of his cabinet to undeclared and they were all currently sleeping. (They had gone to bed before the declaration and had to be woken up to undo it.)
Doesn’t matter what he says, it was already rescinded by the legislature.
Kind of does, since the defense ministry said they were going to enforce martial law until the president lifted it, after parliament voted it down.
From a legal perspective, it doesn’t matter. The Defense Minister reports to the president so it is still just the executive branch. Their constitution states that martial law is over when rescinded by the legislature.
Guns always beat laws.
The legal perspective ceases to matter much when the enforcers of the law don’t enforce it. Laws become mere words.
Don’t you think he looks tired?
I can bring you down with six words, just six. Great reference.
Never really understood that. Like, yeah, I’d expect a politician to look tired, if they don’t are they even doing anything? Shit is a stressful job in a 21st century.
Politicians almost universally need to project a happy warrior demeanor.
Voters want candidates that at minimum pretend to be enthusiastic about their platform.
Biden was removed partly because, in addition to being confused, he looks like a very old and tired man.
Lack of energy is seen, often correctly, as weakness.
Winston Churchill isn’t lauded for saying “We’ll try to stop them at the beaches… sigh”
Chill bro it was just a social experiment!
Does he have a choice? Congress unanimously voted to reject martial law.
Not sure, but if he was the one to declare it then I’d imagine he’s the only one (unless he died after declaring it) to undo it. But I might be wrong idk
