South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on December 3rd 2024. The president said he made the decision to do so because of suspected anti-state propaganda and North Korean agents within the government. This accusation was made against the opposing party to the People Power Party (PPP), the Together Democratic Party, (DPK).
The DPK is the more left leaning party in South Korea. It has grown in popularity and is currently more popular than the ruling PPP. The DPK has always been more socialist than the PPP and has always tried to improve relations between North and South Korea. South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol does not agree with that, and decided to declare martial law.
South Korean lawmakers voted unanimously to end martial law at 1:02 AM on December 4th, 2024. The move to enact martial law has been very unpopular with South Koreans, and many took to the streets to protest. The protesters demanded that Yoon be impeached for violating the constitution, and the Korean parliament held a successful impeachment vote on December 14th. Korea’s constitutional court will now review the impeachment and determine if it’s valid.
If Yoon is removed from office, Korea will have to hold a snap election which the DPK is now heavily favored to win. As of right now, Yoon has been suspended from office and the country is being run by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo.
President Yoon was detained yesterday January 14th 2025, the charges brought upon him are insurrection for a failed martial law. The president claims that the warrant was Illegal and only went with the CIO (Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials) and local police because “he wanted to prevent a violent altercation”. The CIO has 48 hours to interrogate before they have to get an arrest warrant. The next hearings for president Yoons impeachment will be the 16th, 21st and 23rd of January, and 4th of February.
