Martial law declared in South Korea
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has declared martial law in the country on 3 December.
Details: In a live televised address to the nation on Tuesday, Yoon said the measure was necessary to protect the country from "communist forces".
Martial law has been declared in South Korea for the first time since 1980.
The Yonhap news agency, citing the military, reported that the activities of parliament and political parties will be banned, and the media will be under the control of the military command.
Yoon did not name a specific threat from the nuclear-armed North Korea and focused on his domestic political opponents.
Reuters notes that the unexpected move came as a shock to the country, which had a series of authoritarian leaders early in its history but has been considered democratic since the 1980s.
The South Korean won fell sharply against the US dollar. A central bank official said it was preparing measures to stabilise the market if necessary.
The White House has not yet commented on the South Korean president's decision.
Yoon said he had no choice but to take such a measure to preserve a free and constitutional order, saying that opposition parties had been held hostage by the parliamentary process to plunge the country into crisis.
"I declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free constitutional order," Yoon said.
The president did not specify who exactly "the pro-North Korean anti-government forces" are. However, in the past, he has described such forces as obstructing his programme and undermining the country.
Yoon cited a proposal by the country's opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament, to impeach some of the country's top prosecutors this week, as well as its rejection of the government's budget proposal.
On Monday, South Korean ministers protested the decision of the Democratic Party last week to cut more than 4 trillion won (approximately US$ 2.8 billion) from the government budget. Yoon said that these actions undermine the basic functioning of the state.
Support UP or become our patron!
