South Korea declares martial law

[viper37]

South Korea president declares emergency martial law

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in an unannounced late-night TV address, accusing the country's main opposition party of sympathizing with North Korea and anti-state activities.
 
Yoon did not say what measures would be taken. He cited a motion by the opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament, to impeach top prosecutors and reject a government budget proposal.

"To safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea's communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements... I hereby declare emergency martial law," Yoon said in a live televised address to the nation.

What's going on?  Someone who knows Korean politics can explain?

[Grey Fox]

Ad hoc comments from the internet

The opposition has been wanting to impeach him for years and with his histroically low approval ratings, they're very close and he's panicking. The Armed Forces are having a meeting right now, I do not expect them to play along with this. If they do, god help us. And yes, it came out of nowhere for Koreans too. No one expected fucking martial law. Not even when they actually successfully impeached the president before last. Everyone on Korean internet right now is shocked and suprprised by the absolute hell of a news flash that got dropped on them out of nowhere.

[Syt]

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cn38321180et

Ruling party and opposition both vow to block declaration - report
published at 15:17
15:17
The Yonhap News Agency is reporting that the leader of South Korean opposition Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, has said the declaration of martial law is unconstitutional.

Yonhap is also reporting that Han Dong-hoon, the head of the ruling People Power Party - of which President Yoon Suk Yeol is a member - has also vowed to block the declaration, describing it as "wrong".

[Tamas]

Ok so I wasn't the only one completely surprised by this one. First I thought NK was up to something.

I guess it's up to the military now if they want to install a junta, otherwise it'll be over quickly.

[HisMajestyBOB]

Great, there goes one of my potential destination countries for when we need to flee the US.

More seriously, the increasingly prevalent authoritarianism is really giving me 1930s vibes. Not a fan of it TBH.

[Barrister]

So I'm not master of Korean history but I seem to recall that from the Korean War up until the 1980s South Korea was various flavours of military dictatorship.

Which on the one hand might make them more susceptible - but on the other hand gives them much better public awareness of exactly why a military dictatorship is a bad thing, and that it really can happen.

[Josquius]

So just a unpopular president trumping?
I had no idea anything was so wrong in Korea.

[Razgovory]

I have a feeling the President of S. Korea will be resigning soon.

[Legbiter]

The South Korean parliament has voted to block the imposition of martial law but the military is saying it will maintain it until the President lifts it. He has around 25% approval rating...

[mongers]

If you're a wonnabe strongman you have to now act bigly to secure a place in the  queue outside Mara-largo.

[The Brain]

If you're a wonnabe strongman you have to now act bigly to secure a place in the  queue outside Mara-largo.

[Darth Wagtaros]

I guess we'll be going through something similar in a month.

[Legbiter]

If you're a wonnabe strongman you have to now act bigly to secure a place in the  queue outside Mara-largo.

The timing is interesting yeah.

Whoever is currently running the US better get on this fast. 

[HVC]

The South Korean parliament has voted to block the imposition of martial law but the military is saying it will maintain it until the President lifts it. He has around 25% approval rating...

Well that's not good.

[Legbiter]

Absolute shitshow yeah.