Seoul> The martial law that was declared in South Korea was uplifted within hours. It was after much contreversy and protest that the South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared that the martial law was to be lifted on Tuesday night. South Korean army flanked the parliament upon the announcement. The parliament members voted to withdraw the Martial law and after a unanimous decision, the president ordered the army to stand down and that the martial law has been lifted.
The president appeared on national television and announced Tuesday late at night that a matrial law would be enforced. The president declared martial law accusing the opposition of having ties with North Korea and that they might use the parliament to that weaken the nation. It was also reported that the president’s decision came as anti-government sentiments grew stronger within the country. Yoon also called for parliamentary lawmakers to “immediately cease its reckless actions that paralyze the functions of the state, including repeated impeachment attempts, legislative manipulation and budget manipulation”. As the martial law was declared, the oppposition and the ruling party members came to the scene.
Speaker Wu Won-Shik reached the National Assembly and conducted a vote to uplift the martial law. In the 300 member assembly, 190 members including members from the ruling and opposing party voted for the resolution to withdraw the martial law. The Democratic Party won 192 out of the 300 seats during the parliamentary elections that were conducted in April. Yoon’s martial law decree came as a surprise even to members of his party. The party’s chair, Han Dong-hoon, and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon both voiced their opposition to Yoon’s martial law declaration on Tuesday night.
