South Korea’s president declares martial law over fears that MPs sympathetic to Kim Jong Un are undermining parliament – and vows to ‘wipe out pro-North Korean forces’
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has declared a martial law emergency, saying the measure was necessary to protect the country from “communist forces” in North Korea and “anti-state” actors at home.
“I declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free constitutional power. order,” Yoon said in a televised speech today.
He then accused his country’s opposition of controlling parliament and obstructing the government through anti-state activities.
“Without regard to the livelihood of the people, the opposition party has paralyzed the administration solely for the sake of impeachment, special investigations and shielding their leader from justice,” he added.
It was not immediately clear what impact these steps would have on the country’s governance and democracy, but Yoon, leader of the People’s Power Party (PPP), vowed to “rebuild a democratic country” under martial law ‘.
This move comes as a complete shock to the Western-allied Asian country with more than 50 million inhabitants, which, despite escalating tensions with its enemy in the North, is not waging an active war, has not been invaded by Kim Jong-un’s forces and has not has been attacked. on his land.
Since taking office in 2022, Yoon has struggled to push his agendas against an opposition-controlled parliament, raising suspicions that the sudden introduction of martial law could be a political ploy to exert more power.
The move comes one day after the opposition Democratic Party – which has a majority in parliament – filed a motion to oust some of South Korea’s top prosecutors after they recently rejected a government budget proposal .
Opposition MPs approved a significantly scaled-down budget plan through a parliamentary committee last week.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has declared a martial law emergency, saying the measure was necessary to protect the country from “communist forces” in North Korea and “anti-state” actors at home.
“Our National Assembly has become a haven for criminals, a den of legislative dictatorship aimed at paralyzing the judicial and administrative systems and overthrowing our liberal democratic order,” Yoon said.
He accused opposition lawmakers of cutting “all important budgets that are essential to the country’s core functions, such as combating drug crimes and maintaining public security… leaving the country in a drug haven and a state of chaos.” in public safety has changed.”
Yoon then labeled the opposition, which has a majority in the 300-member parliament, as “anti-state forces seeking to overthrow the regime” and called his decision “inevitable.”
“I will return the country to normal by eliminating anti-state forces as quickly as possible.”
