On Dec. 3, 2024, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, citing Article 77 of the Constitution, which allows the president to suspend civilian rule in times of crisis. Yoon accused the opposition of “anti-state activities” and vowed to eliminate “pro-North Korean communist totalitarian forces” in the country. In a sweeping decree, his martial law commander Park An-su subsequently banned all forms of political activity by parties, media, and the public, and threatened to punish any violators with arrests and detention.
Within hours, however, the South Korean National Assembly voted unanimously to revoke the imposition of martial law – 190 out of 300 lawmakers had managed to enter the assembly despite the military blockade. Yoon eventually upheld the vote, officially and peacefully ending a six-hour period of martial law.
Has this happened before?
This is the first declaration of its kind since South Korea transitioned to democracy in 1987. Aside from Yoon’s own decree, South Korea has had 16 such impositions and extensions of martial law in its history – largely moves by a string of dictators seeking to lengthen their political tenures beyond constitutional constraints and against the wishes of South Koreans. Unsurprisingly, declarations of martial law have often followed periods of significant civil unrest, as during the uprisings in Yeosu, Suncheon, and Jeju in 1948 and the nationwide demonstrations against normalizing ties with Japan in 1964.
The last time South Korea enacted martial law was in 1980, when General Chun Doo-hwan initiated a particularly violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Gwangju. According to recent estimates by the 5.18 Memorial Foundation, at least 606 civilians were confirmed killed by martial law forces, and another 1,394 arrested. Chun was sentenced to death in 1996 – then later pardoned – for mutiny and sedition. Talk of martial law has since been largely reserved for history textbooks.
How did it come to this?
Yoon was elected president in March 2022. His presidency has since been swarmed by controversy. His wife Kim Keon-hee was accused of bribery and stock manipulation – and Yoon used his executive veto power on three occasions to block investigations into these activities. Myung Tae-kyun, a close ally and lobbyist, was under scrutiny for manipulating public opinion in the 2022 presidential election – which Yoon won by a razor-thin margin – and influence peddling in the by-elections that same year. Last week, Yoon’s approval rating hit a record low, at just 19 percent, after a public non-apology for the scandals.
Calls for impeachment had been mounting precipitously in recent months. Protesters in the thousands flooded Gwanghwamun Square, a large public space in Seoul. Petitions calling for Yoon to be impeached circulated throughout universities, civil society organizations, and churches, collecting over 1.4 million signatures.
Protesters’ demands are wide-ranging, including special investigations into corruption charges against the first lady and the negligence of the police for the deaths of 159 people during the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush. Others also condemn Yoon for his foreign policy failures, such as his plans to arm Ukraine, willingness to ignore historical revisionism in Japan, and warmongering against North Korea.
Though swift and rather surprising, Yoon’s move to declare martial law was not wholly unforeseen. Earlier in September, opposition lawmakers had speculated about his impending plans for martial law. Most commentators had dismissed the notion as political theater; President Park Geun-hye had once made similar proposals but never implemented the threat.
But unlike Park, Yoon has long brandished anti-communism as a political weapon – a traditionally hot-button issue in South Korea. In nearly every public speech, he labeled his opponents “followers of the North” (jongbuk), dismissed calls for accountability as communist propaganda, or warned of subversion by “anti-state forces” (bangukga seyeok). The “threats of North Korean communist forces,” which Yoon cited as a key rationale for imposing martial law, had been an integral part of his narrative – one that could not have been more thoroughly discredited by his now-botched attempt at martial rule.
What happens now?
What specifically triggered Yoon’s decision on Tuesday remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: If Yoon’s political career had been embattled before, it is even less likely that he will survive now.
Shortly after the emergency vote at the National Assembly to revoke the martial law order, opposition leader and former presidential contender Lee Jae-myung vowed to remove Yoon from office. “From this moment, Yoon Suk Yeol is no longer the president of the Republic of Korea,” he stated. Even the leader of Yoon’s own party, Han Dong-hoon, condemned the president’s “unconstitutional” conduct, adding that “all those responsible must be held strictly accountable.”
Lawmakers are already mobilizing to pass an impeachment motion against Yoon. Once proposed, the motion must be voted on within 24 to 72 hours. Given the newfound momentum, the National Assembly – where the opposition holds a comfortable majority – is unlikely to wait. And while many members of his ruling party are expected to vote against the motion, the opposition only needs 8 defectors to pass the motion. (For reference, more than 60 lawmakers from the conservative party crossed party lines to impeach Park in 2016.)
Ultimately Yoon could be impeached within days and, pending court approval, removed from office. A long – but familiar – criminal procedure for corruption, abuses of power, and treason will then await him.
This article has been updated on Dec. 4.
Eun A Jo is the Edelson Fellow in International Security at Dartmouth College’s Dickey Center for International Understanding and an incoming assistant professor of government at William and Mary.
