South Korean president walks back martial law declaration after legislators vote to lift it

South Korean military units departed the National Assembly after legislators voted Wednesday morning to revoke President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law, issued late Tuesday night.

Hours later the president vowed to lift the order.

“All soldiers who entered the National Assembly building have left,” said Speaker of the National Assembly Woo Won-sik, according to South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper.

The National Assembly voted 190-0 to lift the martial law declaration, said the paper.  

Under the country’s constitution the president may institute martial law when considered in the interest of public safety but must end the military rule once a majority of the National Assembly votes for the return of normal democratic procedures, reports Australia’s Sky News.  

Yoon enacted the measure in an unusual television address to the nation, accusing the opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) of favoring pro-North Korea forces to paralyze the country.  

“Since the beginning of this administration, the National Assembly has initiated 22 impeachment motions against government officials. Following the inauguration of the 22nd National Assembly in June, 10 additional impeachment efforts are underway. This is without precedent in South Korean history or in any democratic nation worldwide,” Yoon said, according to Chosun Ilbo.

The DPK has called for the unification of North and South Korea, and has been tagged by Yoon as plotting an “insurgency” and “trying to overthrow the free democracy,” reports the New York Times, which also broke news of the president’s reversal.    

But even some in his own political party disagreed with the action.

Ruling People Power Party (PPP) Chair Han Dong-hoon criticized Yoon.  

“The president’s martial law declaration is wrong. We will stop it along with the people,” Han said in a statement, according to Korea’s JoongAng Daily. 

PPP and the opposition DPK have been engaged in an acrimonious budget battle with the DPK reducing funds for “disaster preparedness, people’s livelihoods, and security,” said PPP’s legislative floor leader, Choo Kyung-ho 

Choo warned that “all legal means” would be used to fund the government.  

Shortly after the declaration of martial law, South Korean troops appeared at the National Assembly with the state’s defense ministry saying it would “maintain the martial law command until the president lifts the martial law,” reports the U.K.’s Mirror.  

Although troops have left the National Assembly, it’s unclear when the crisis has ended. The South Korean president still needs to officially withdraw the martial law decree.

The country becomes just another hot-spot headache for the incoming Trump administration as a lame duck White House headed by President Joe Biden continues to flounder.   

It’s unclear if the White House was consulted by Yoon before the martial law declaration. The U.S. typically keeps around 30,000 troops deployed in South Korea.

The New York Daily News reports that an unidentified spokesman for Biden’s National Security Council said simply, “The administration is in contact with the (South Korea) government and is monitoring the situation closely.” 

Just two weeks ago Biden met with Yoon and his Japanese counterpart in Peru, to continue cooperation between allies determined to thwart North Korean provocations.  

“I’m proud of how far we’ve come,” Biden said of the alliance, according to the Associated Press. “Whatever the issue, we’ve taken it on together.” 

As reported by The Lion previously, the U.S. is sounding the alarm on North Korea’s growing support for Russia’s war in Ukraine amidst Pyongyang’s escalating threats against the U.S., South Korea and other American allies. 

Biden is currently in Angola, addressing the history of American involvement in African slavery at the country’s National Slavery Museum.