South Korea’s Yoon says he will lift martial law

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has said he will lift his martial law order, abandoning a political gamble that has sparked fierce opposition from the country’s lawmakers and alarmed allies.

Yoon, a former attorney general, said on Wednesday that he would withdraw the order “emergency” he had announced a few hours earlier.

In a national broadcast on Tuesday night, he justified martial law as necessary to “eliminate anti-government groups as quickly as possible and normalize the country”, but both were rejected by members of South Korea’s national assembly.

Shortly before 4:30am local time on Wednesday, in his second televised address, Yoon said he would “accept the National Assembly’s demands and lift martial law through a cabinet meeting as soon as the members arrive”.

The downgrade, which analysts say has left the president’s future in grave danger, comes after Yoon’s plans were widely criticized by lawmakers in the political arena.

On Wednesday morning, more than 40 opposition lawmakers called on the national assembly to lay charges against Yoon.

“The president did something akin to treason by encouraging the military,” said Hwang Un-ha of the leftist Rebuilding Korea Party.

Opponents of martial law include the leader of the president’s People Power party, Han Dong-hoon, a former prosecutor who was seen as Yoon’s political protégé.

“Martial law has ceased to apply,” Han wrote on social media shortly after the national assembly rejected it.

“Therefore from now on, all government agencies that use force, including the military and police of the Republic of Korea, have a duty not to follow illegal or inappropriate laws.”

Yoon’s declaration of martial law – the first such order in South Korea since a military coup in 1979 – was also met with alarming expressions from the US, Seoul’s main military ally.

US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said Washington is watching with “deep concern” and is cooperating with the South Korean government “at every level”.

A spokesman for the United States’ defense agency said later: “We are happy that President Yoon has changed his stance on military security and has respected .” . . votes of the National Assembly to solve the problem. ”

There have been violent protests during the vote on Yoon’s martial law at the opposition-controlled national assembly, where 190 out of 300 members took part.

With military helicopters circling overhead, the military tried to prevent a large crowd of protesters from entering the parliament building.

The office of the Speaker of the National Assembly later confirmed that the military would withdraw from the building following the vote.

Yoon’s failure to impose martial law follows growing tensions between the president, whose approval rating has plummeted due to the economic downturn, and his rivals in parliament.

Mr. Yoon accused many leftists at the national conference of wanting to attack and preserve North Korea’s sympathy.

The leaders of the opposition parties said that they have been harassed by those representing the government who are in agreement with the President.

He said Yoon, who praised previous South Korean military leaders for their economic achievements, had revived the country’s brutal culture.

Yoon described his opponents as North Korean “sympathizers” as he announced his martial law banning “all political activities, including national assemblies, local councils, political parties” and demonstrations.

Last week lawmakers voted to cut nearly $3bn from Yoon’s 2025 budget, cutting funding for the president’s office and senior prosecutors and the police.

Saying his hand was forced by efforts to impeach the authorities and prosecutors, Yoon said the cuts would turn South Korea into a “drug paradise” full of “chaos”.

His declaration of martial law was the first since the establishment of democracy in 1987 in South Korea, which had been ruled by right-wing military governments after the end of the Korean War in the 1950s.

But after he stepped down from his command, and with his political dominance, analysts questioned whether Yoon would be able to serve a five-year term as president, which ends in 2027.

Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha University in Seoul, said: “With very little public support and without strong support from his party and leadership, the president must know how difficult it will be to implement his night law.

“He looked like a politician under siege, struggling to deal with mounting threats, institutional shutdowns, and calls for impeachment, which are bound to escalate.”

Additional reporting by Felicia Schwartz in Washington