The News
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol faces an impeachment vote after declaring, and rapidly rescinding, martial law in the country.
In a shock late-night announcement Yoon said the law was needed to protect South Korea from “anti-state” threats posed by North Korea. But opposition lawmakers immediately condemned the move, rushing to Parliament, and in some cases breaking through barricades, to vote against the measure, prompting Yoon to lift the order.
On Wednesday South Korean MPs began impeachment proceedings against Yoon, and are considering whether to impeach his defense minister too, while protesters marched to the presidential office to demand the leader step down.
SIGNALS
South Koreans hadn’t seen the move coming
Yoon’s unexpected decision demonstrates the “depth of his administration’s crisis and desperation to deal with political turmoil within his own party,” Darcie Draudt-Véjares wrote for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a crisis that caught many South Koreans by surprise. Yoon has faced pressure over a faltering economy and corruption scandals, and has a powerful adversary in the main opposition Democratic party, which holds a majority in Parliament. Yet the shock martial law felt like a moment “out of the movies” to many citizens: Many began panic buying with sales of canned goods jumping over 300% in one supermarket, reported Reuters.
Reputational damage may outlast Yoon
Though the economic fallout of Yoon’s action may be temporary — South Korean shares plummeted by over 2% in the immediate aftermath — the impact on the country’s reputation could be longer lasting, argued Alexander M. Hynd in The Conversation. Other experts viewed his martial law declaration as even more destabilizing than the US’ Jan 6 riots, the BBC wrote. At the same time, the US — a close ally, which has nearly 30,000 troops stationed in South Korea as a protection measure against neighboring North Korea — appeared eager to smooth over any concerns. US envoy Philip Goldberg said Washington was “encouraged by the resilience” of South Korean democracy following mass protests and the veto of martial law in an interview with Korean news agency Yonhap.