LONDON — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared an “emergency martial law” in a televised speech on Tuesday, the Yonhap news agency reported.
Yoon said the measure was necessary due to the actions of the country’s opposition, which he accused of controlling parliament, sympathizing with North Korea and paralyzing the government.
“I declare martial law in order to eradicate the shameless pro-North Korea anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people and to protect the free constitutional order,” Yoon said, as quoted by ABC News editorial partner KBS.
Explaining his decision, Yoon accused the opposition-dominated parliament of “paralyzing” judicial affairs and the administration via 22 proposed cases of impeachment issued since the body convened in June.
FILE – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol answers a reporter’s question during a news conference at the Presidential Office in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Kim Hong-Ji/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Kim Hong-ji/AP
Yoon’s conservative People Power Party has been locked in a fierce budget dispute with the liberal opposition Democratic Party.
“The handling of the national budget also cut all major budgets to have control over the essential functions of the state, the budget that was formed to crack down on drug crimes and maintain public security,” Yoon said Tuesday. “This undermines the essential functions of the state and leaves the public in a drug paradise and public security panic.”
“The National Assembly, which should be the basis of liberal democracy, has become a monster that collapses the liberal democracy system,” he added.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
Source: abc news
