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South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said he would lift his order to impose martial law, hours after triggering a political crisis in the country.
Yoon, a hardline former chief prosecutor, said early on Wednesday morning that he would withdraw the decree that he had announced on Tuesday night.
He had justified the martial law order as being necessary to “eliminate anti-state forces as quickly as possible and normalise the country”, but it was rejected unanimously by members of South Korea’s national assembly.
Yoon said troops deployed to enforce martial law had been withdrawn and the state of military rule would be lifted formally by his cabinet “as soon as members arrive”.
The climbdown came after Yoon’s plan was fiercely criticised by lawmakers across the political spectrum, and international allies also expressed concern.
Critics included the leader of the president’s own conservative People Power party, Han Dong-hoon, a fellow former prosecutor once seen as Yoon’s political protégé.
“Martial law has lost its effect,” Han posted on social media shortly after it was rejected by the national assembly.
“So from this moment on, all state institutions exercising physical force, including the military and police of the Republic of Korea, are obligated not to follow unlawful or unfair instruction.”
Yoon’s announcement of martial law — the first such decree in South Korea since a military coup in 1979 — was also met with expressions of concern from the US, South Korea’s leading military ally.
US deputy secretary of state Kurt Campbell said Washington was watching with “grave concern” and was engaging with the South Korean government “at every level”.
Pentagon spokesperson Maj Gen Patrick Ryder said Seoul had made no requests for assistance from the 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea.
During the vote in the national assembly, in which 190 out of 300 members participated, soldiers sought to block large crowds from entering the parliament building as lawmakers rejected Yoon’s decree.
Yoon, who has praised past military leaders for their economic achievements, has been accused by opponents of reviving South Korea’s authoritarian tradition.
The president, however, claimed on Tuesday night that opposition attempts to impeach his administration’s senior officials had forced his hand by paralysing the state.
Analysts have questioned whether Yoon will manage to serve out his full five-year term, which expires in 2027, following the apparent failure of his dramatic political gamble.
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