Seoul:
South Korean President Yun Seok-Yeol declared emergency martial law on Tuesday, accusing opposition forces of being “anti-national forces bent on overthrowing the government” amid a parliamentary dispute over a budget bill.
In an address to the nation on live television, Yun said, “In order to protect liberal South Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces and eliminate anti-national elements who are plundering people’s freedom and happiness, we are hereby declaring emergency martial law.” “I declare that.”
“Without considering the lives of the people, the opposition parties are paralyzing governance with the sole purpose of impeachment, special investigations, and protecting leaders from justice,” he added.
This surprising move comes as Yoon’s People’s Power Party and the main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan, continue to quarrel over next year’s budget bill. Opposition MPs approved a significantly reduced budget through a parliamentary committee last week.
The opposition party has cut approximately 4.1 trillion won ($2.8 billion) from the 677 trillion won budget proposal proposed by Yoon, reducing the government’s reserve funds and the operating budgets of Yoon’s office, the prosecutor’s office, the police, and the National Board of Audit. was reduced.
“Our National Assembly has become a haven for criminals and a legislative dictatorship that seeks to paralyze the judiciary and executive branch and subvert the free democratic order,” Yun said.
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Yun, a former prosecutor, said opposition politicians have “cut all major budgets essential for core functions of the state, such as fighting drug crimes and maintaining public order… turning the country into a drug haven and a state of security chaos.” ” he criticized.
The president also labeled the opposition party, which holds a majority in the 300-member parliament, as “anti-national forces bent on overthrowing the government.”
Yun added that the imposition of martial law was “inevitable to ensure the continuation of a liberal South Korea” and would not affect the country’s foreign policy.
“We will eliminate anti-national forces as soon as possible and return the country to normalcy,” he said, without elaborating beyond the imposition of martial law.
Regarding the current situation in South Korea, he said, “The National Assembly is functioning like a monster that is trying to destroy liberal democracy, and it is on the brink of collapse.”
Martial law has been declared and all military units in South Korea, which is effectively at war with nuclear-armed North Korea, have been ordered to strengthen emergency alert and readiness, Yonhap News reported.
According to Yonhap News, the entrance to the National Assembly has been sealed and members of Congress are prohibited from entering the building.
The imposition of emergency martial law came after Yoon’s approval rating had fallen to 19% in the latest Gallup poll last week, with many people favoring Yoon’s handling of the economy and his wife Kim. He has expressed dissatisfaction with the controversy surrounding Gun-hee.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
