By Jack Kim and Ju-min Park, Reuters
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said he would lift a martial law declaration he had imposed just hours before, backing down in a standoff with parliament which rejected his attempt to ban political activity and censor the media.
Yoon declared martial law on Tuesday night local time to thwart "anti-state forces" among his opponents. But outraged lawmakers rejected the decree, in South Korea's biggest political crisis in decades. Yonhap news agency said the cabinet had agreed early on Wednesday to scrap the martial law.
Protesters outside parliament shouted and clapped. "We won!" they chanted. One demonstrator banged on a drum. South Korea's won currency recovered somewhat after Yoon backed down and was 0.8 percent lower at 1414.45 per US dollar.
Cho Kuk, head of a minor opposition party, met protesters outside parliament and said: "This isn't over. He put all the people in shock." He vowed to impeach Yoon by putting together votes from other parties.
Yoon's surprise declaration of martial law, which he cast as aimed at his political foes, was unanimously voted down by 190 lawmakers in parliament. His own party urged him to lift the decree. Under South Korean law, the president must immediately lift martial law if parliament demands it by a majority vote.
The crisis in a country that has been a democracy since the 1980s, and is a US ally and major Asian economy, caused international alarm.
People gather outside the National Assembly in Seoul. Photo: YONHAP / AFP
Earlier, US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the United States was watching events in South Korea with "grave concern" and hoped that any political disputes would be resolved peacefully and in accordance with the rule of law.
After Yoon's announcement of martial law in a late-night television address, the military said activities by parliament and political parties would be banned, and that media and publishers would be under the control of the martial law command.
Yoon did not cite any specific threat from the nuclear-armed North, instead focusing on his domestic political opponents. It is the first time since 1980 that martial law has been declared in South Korea.
Yoon, a career prosecutor who was elected in May 2022 by a very narrow margin,
has been unpopular, with his support ratings hovering at around 20 percent for months.
His People Power Party suffered a landslide defeat at a parliamentary election in April this year, ceding control of the unicameral assembly to opposition parties that captured nearly two-thirds of the seats.
- Reuters
