South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on Tuesday, saying the move was necessary to protect the country from “communist forces” amid parliamentary spats over a budget bill.
“In order to protect liberal South Korea from threats posed by North Korean communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements … I hereby declare martial law,” Yoon said in a live televised address to the nation.
“Regardless of people’s existence, the opposition party paralyzed the government solely for the sake of impeachment, special investigations and protection of its leader from justice,” he added.
The surprise move comes as Yoon’s People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party continue to spar over next year’s budget proposals. Opposition MPs approved a significantly reduced budget plan last week through a parliamentary committee.
“Our National Assembly has become a haven for criminals, a den of legislative dictatorship that seeks to paralyze the judicial and administrative systems and overthrow our liberal democratic order,” Yoon said.
He accused opposition lawmakers of cutting “all key budgets essential to the nation’s core functions, such as fighting drugs and maintaining public safety … turning the country into a drug haven and a state of public safety chaos.”
Yoon labeled the opposition, which has a majority in the 300-member parliament, as “anti-state forces intent on overthrowing the regime” and called his decision “inevitable.”
“I will bring the country back to normal by getting rid of the anti-state forces as soon as possible.”
