SDF Chatter

SEOUL, Dec 4 (Reuters) - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Wednesday he would move to lift a martial law declaration he had imposed just hours before, honoring a parliamentary vote against the measure. Yoon declared martial law on Tuesday to thwart "anti-state forces" among his opponents. But outraged lawmakers rejected the decree, as protesters gathered outside parliament in the country's biggest political crisis in decades. Yoon's surprise declaration, which he cast as aimed at his political foes, was unanimously voted down by 190 lawmakers in the parliament. Under South Korean law, the president must immediately lift martial law if parliament demands it by a majority vote. His own party urged him to lift the decree. The crisis in a country that has been a democracy since the 1980s, and is a U.S. ally and major Asian economy, caused international alarm.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/48907881

SEOUL, Dec 3 (Reuters) - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday declared martial law in an unannounced late night address broadcast live on YTN television.

Yoon said he had no choice but to resort to such a measure in order to safeguard free and constitutional order, saying opposition parties have taken hostage of the parliamentary process to throw the country into a crisis.

"I declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free constitutional order," Yoon said.

He did not say in the address what specific measures will be taken.

Yoon cited a motion by the country's opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament, this week to impeach some of the country's top prosecutors and its rejection of a government budget proposal.

edit: BBC live feed. This just broke an hour ago so they're still gathering information: https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cn38321180et

edit: Maybe it's over? Per the BBC-

South Koreans celebrate as Yoon withdraws martial law troops - published at 12:43

Moments after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced he would lift the martial law people outside the National Assembly celebrated, the AFP news agency reports.

It adds that Yoon says martial law troops have withdrawn after the National Assembly voted to block his imposition of military rule.