South Korean President Retracts: I Will Lift Martial Law

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol announced on Tuesday that he would move to lift the martial law he declared just a few hours earlier and withdraw the military forces from the streets, after the parliament voted against the measure and public protests escalated.

In a televised speech, he said: “A short while ago, there was a request from the National Assembly to lift the state of emergency. We have withdrawn the military that was deployed to enforce the martial law operations. We will accept the request of the National Assembly and lift the martial law.”

Yoon Suk-yeol had imposed emergency martial law, banned all political activities, and closed the parliament, accusing the opposition in the country of controlling the parliament, sympathizing with North Korea, and obstructing government operations through anti-state activities.

He announced his decision via television, reaffirming his intention to “eradicate pro-North Korean forces and protect the constitutional democratic system.”

However, the parliament rejected the decision by quickly voting on a law to stop the martial law during an emergency session attended by 190 of its 300 members.

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung condemned the imposition of martial law, calling the move “illegal” and urging citizens to gather at the parliament in protest.

Lee said, “President Yoon Suk-yeol’s illegal decision to impose martial law is void,” adding in a live-streamed speech, “Please, head to the National Assembly now. I will go there as well.”

Yoon, whose popularity has declined in recent months, has faced difficulty in advancing his agenda in the parliament, which has been controlled by the opposition since he assumed office in 2022.

The conservative People Power Party, to which Yoon belongs, has reached an impasse with the opposition Democratic Party over the proposed budget bill for the coming year.

Yoon has also rejected calls for independent investigations into scandals involving his wife and senior officials, which has led to sharp criticism from his political opponents, according to the Associated Press.

In terms of repercussions, South Korea’s financial assets dropped on Tuesday. The iShares MSCI index fell by 5.1% in U.S. trading, marking its largest daily drop since August 5th. The South Korean won also weakened against the dollar to its lowest level in more than two years.

Bloomberg reported that shares of the South Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics listed on the London Stock Exchange dropped by 5% today.