South Korean president's late-night power move ends in total disaster
Last night South Korea saw its first martial-law crisis in over 40 years when President Yoon tried to take control. His plan failed after parliament members climbed walls to vote against the decree
President Yoon Suk Yeolʼs late-night martial law declaration turned into a total mess. His defense minister Kim Yong-hyun (who denied wanting martial-law powers just three months ago at his hearing) pushed for this decision
The crisis started when Yoon called a cabinet meeting around 9pm: most ministers didnt agree with his plan but he went ahead anyway. At 10:23pm he announced martial-law on TV which banned political activities and wanted to control media
Special forces showed up at parliament in black-hawk helicopters (about 280 troops in total). They tried blocking the building but lawmakers found creative ways to get inside:
- Some climbed over walls
- Others used hidden corridors
- Staff made barricades from chairs and tables
- People used fire-extinguishers to keep soldiers away
Inside parliament; opposition members worked fast to organize a vote. Around 1am‚ they voted 190-0 against martial-law which forced Yoon to back down by early morning
Now Yoonʼs political friends are leaving him and theres growing support for his removal from office. Its a big hit to South Koreaʼs image as a democratic success-story since the 1980s‚ and creates problems for this important U.S ally in Asia
The whole thing looked kind of amateur-hour according to experts: soldiers couldnt even properly control the building‚ and the media censorship part of the plan never worked. The opposition says Yoon wanted to stop investigations into him and his wife but his office claims it was all about protecting democracy
