{"id":133373,"date":"2024-12-04T23:33:10","date_gmt":"2024-12-04T16:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=133373"},"modified":"2024-12-04T23:33:10","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T16:33:10","slug":"how-south-korea-woke-up-to-the-shortest-martial-law-in-history-protests-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=133373","title":{"rendered":"How South Korea woke up to the shortest martial law in history | Protests News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p><strong>Seoul, South Korea \u2013<\/strong> On Wednesday morning, many in South Korea woke up to a reality they had not dreamed of.<\/p>\n<p>The previous night, the country\u2019s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, had <a href=\"https:\/\/aje.aj-harbinger.com\/news\/2024\/12\/4\/why-did-south-korea-declare-a-martial-law-whats-next-for-president-yoon\">imposed martial law<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Using ambiguous language, he proclaimed the need to \u201cprotect the country from North Korean communists and eliminate antistate elements\u201d while stating a need to \u201crebuild and protect the country from falling into ruin\u201d. Sending troops to blockade the National Assembly building as midnight approached, Yoon attempted to stop parliamentarians from interfering in his plans.<\/p>\n<p>Yoon failed: Legislators entered parliament and voted to lift <a href=\"https:\/\/aje.aj-harbinger.com\/news\/2024\/12\/4\/south-koreas-long-history-of-martial-law-and-impeachments\">martial law<\/a>, which eventually lasted only two hours.<\/p>\n<p>By morning, South Korea had survived its first attempted coup in more than 40 years.<\/p>\n<p>As the day went by, life for students on university campuses and office workers in city centres continued as usual. Back in front of the National Assembly building, however, the drama from Tuesday night continued.<\/p>\n<p>Hundreds of protesters and citizens gathered in front of the building\u2019s steps to join demonstrations led by members of the opposition Democratic Party who, a few hours earlier, had put forward a bill to impeach Yoon. They hope to get it passed by Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>But protesters on the grounds were not willing to wait that long: Many yelled for Yoon to step down immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was no procedural legitimacy at all in the president\u2019s actions last night,\u201d said 44-year-old Shin Byung-soo, who was holding a candle alongside other protesters. \u201cHe looked past the wellbeing and intelligence of our people, making unilateral decisions that carried unprecedented consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3364859\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3364859\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-3364859\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Min-Jun-shik-43-joined-the-demonstration-after-finishing-work-on-Wednesday-evening-1733321662.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C513\" alt=\"Min Jun-shik, 43, joined the demonstration after finishing work on Wednesday evening\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3364859\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Min Jun-shik, 43, joined the demonstration after finishing work on Wednesday evening [David D Lee\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Min Jun-shik, 43, who was taking photos of the demonstrations, echoed the sentiment that Yoon \u201cdoesn\u2019t have the capabilities of a president\u201d and wished he would \u201cresign soon\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier in his office in Seoul, Min said most of the talk between colleagues centred on \u201chow surreal Yoon\u2019s decision was\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis reminds me of a few years ago, when we braved the cold to call for Park Geun-hye to step down,\u201d Min said, referring to the country\u2019s first presidential impeachment back in 2017. Park \u2013 who was president from 2013 to 2017 \u2013 was impeached, and then convicted by the country\u2019s Constitutional Court, over corruption charges tied to extra-constitutional influence wielded by an aide.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur economy isn\u2019t great and making a living is hard for many as it is. This has made the situation even worse. The won declined significantly, and another stain has been put on our country\u2019s reputation,\u201d Min said.<\/p>\n<p>Chung Joo-shin, the director of the Korea Institute of Politics and Society, said Yoon\u2019s actions had damaged South Korea\u2019s status in the world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen foreigners talk about South Korea, they\u2019re reminded of the various democratic wins throughout the country\u2019s history that have made it to see unprecedented growth,\u201d Chung said. Yoon\u2019s imposition of martial law, however, \u201cshowed that South Korea still had ways to go to become an advanced democratic society\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFacing record-low approval ratings due to the country\u2019s rising inflation and the regularity of scandals during his presidency, Yoon tried to see an escape route,\u201d Chun added. \u201cBut his plan had no legitimate justification and wasn\u2019t fully thought out first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The result: Yoon, whose popularity ratings have dropped to 25 percent in recent polling.<\/p>\n<p>plummeted to 25 percent in recent polling, oversaw the shortest-lived martial law in the country\u2019s history.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a history chequered with such proclamations \u2013 but only invoked in the past during military dictatorships. Those decades of military rule ended only in 1988, after years of struggle for democracy, including during the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2014\/10\/5\/highlighting-atrocities-with-art-in-s-korea\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gwangju uprising<\/a>, a mass protest that broke out on May 18, 1980, in the southern city of Gwangju. Hundreds of protesters were feared killed in a crackdown by security forces.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3364864\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3364864\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-3364864\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/National-Assembly-member-Jung-Chung-rae-addressing-a-Democratic-Party-led-demonstration-in-front-of-the-National-Assembly-building-in-Yeouido-2-1733321683.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C513\" alt=\"National Assembly member Jung Chung-rae addressing a Democratic Party-led demonstration in front of the National Assembly building in Yeouido\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3364864\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">National Assembly member Jung Chung-rae addressing a Democratic Party-led demonstration in front of the National Assembly building in Yeouido [David D Lee\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>For Jeon Hyun-jung, 33, whose mother worked in Gwangju during the student-led protests, the thought of the return of martial law made it difficult to fall asleep even late on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I called my friend in Seoul, I heard helicopters and armoured vehicles moving in the streets through her phone,\u201d recalled Jeon. \u201cI was really worried that soldiers would maybe use force against people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But after the National Assembly voted to lift martial law, she went to sleep trusting that things would go back to normal by the morning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think many of my South Korean friends went to sleep like myself. Rather, it was my friends from outside the country who reached out to me in shock,\u201d Jeon said. \u201cThey couldn\u2019t believe that this was happening to South Korea.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lee Gil-bok, who lives in the northern province of Paju, also slept in relative peace as she believed that the situation would not spiral for the worse overnight. But Tuesday\u2019s events have made her think again about the prospect of sending her grandchildren to live abroad.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel like there aren\u2019t any leaders in the country who children can look up to these days,\u201d the 65-year-old said. \u201cPoliticians only look out to protect their own interests, and they have let go of their reason in the process. We can\u2019t really trust anyone with power any more.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2024\/12\/4\/how-south-korea-woke-up-to-the-shortest-martial-law-in-history\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Seoul, South Korea \u2013 On Wednesday morning, many in South Korea woke up to a reality they had not dreamed of. The previous night, the country\u2019s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=133373\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=133373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133373\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=133373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=133373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=133373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}