South Korean political activities banned, protests prohibited and media censored under martial law – live | South Korea

The Agence France-Presse news agency has this report:

The surprise move comes as Yoon Suk-Yeol’s People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party continue to bicker over next year’s budget bill. Opposition MPs last week approved a significantly downsized budget plan through a parliamentary committee.

The opposition has slashed approximately 4.1tn won ($2.8bn) from Yoon’s proposed 677tn won budget plan, cutting the government’s reserve fund and activity budgets for Yoon’s office, the prosecution, police and the state audit agency.

“Our National Assembly has become a haven for criminals, a den of legislative dictatorship that seeks to paralyse the judicial and administrative systems and overturn our liberal democratic order,” Yoon said.

Yoon, a former prosecutor, accused opposition lawmakers of cutting “all key budgets essential to the nation’s core functions, such as combatting drug crimes and maintaining public security… turning the country into a drug haven and a state of public safety chaos.”

The president went on to label the opposition, which holds a majority in the 300-member parliament, as “anti-state forces intent on overthrowing the regime”.

Yoon described the imposition of martial law as “inevitable to guarantee the continuity of a liberal South Korea,” adding that it would not impact the country’s foreign policy.

“I will restore the country to normalcy by getting rid of anti-state forces as soon as possible,” he said, without elaborating further other than the martial law in place.

He described the current situation as South Korea “on the verge of collapse, with the national assembly acting as a monster intent on bringing down liberal democracy”.

The White House has said it is “closely” monitoring the situation in South Korea.

“The administration is in contact with the ROK government and is monitoring the situation closely,” a spokesperson for the national security council said, using the official acronym for the Republic of Korea, where thousands of US troops are based as parts of efforts to deter nuclear-armed North Korea.

In October, Washington and Seoul agreed on a new five-year plan on sharing the cost of keeping American troops in South Korea. Donald Trump, who will re-enter the White House in January, had during his presidency accused South Korea of “free-riding” on US military might, and demanded that it pay as much as $5bn a year for the US deployment.

Here is a statement from martial law commander Park An-su.

He said:

All political activities are banned in South Korea following the imposition of martial law on Tuesday and all media will be subject to government monitoring.

All political activities, including those of the national assembly, local councils, political parties, and political associations, as well as assemblies and demonstrations, are strictly prohibited.

All media and publications shall be subject to the control of the martial law command.

With martial law imposed, all military units in the south, which remains technically at war with the nuclear-armed north, have been ordered to strengthen their emergency alert and readiness postures, Yonhap news agency reported. Under South Korean law, lawmakers cannot be arrested by the martial law command and the government has to lift martial law if most of the national assembly demands it in a vote. The leader of the prime minister’s own conservative party, Han Dong-hoon, has vowed to stop the imposition of the law “with the people” and Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the opposition Democratic party, which has a majority in parliament, has also expressed opposition to it.

Following the martial law announcement, South Korea’s military proclaimed that parliament and other political gatherings that could cause “social confusion” would be suspended, according to Yonhap news agency, which is reporting that people who violate martial law can be arrested without warrant.

The military also said that the country’s striking doctors should return to work within 48 hours, the news agency reported. Thousands of doctors have been striking for months over government plans to expand the number of students at medical schools.

The Yonhap News Agency is reporting that members of the national assembly have been banned from entering the building, with the South Korean military having reportedly announced the suspension of all parliamentary activity. We have not yet independently verified this information. The parliament speaker is traveling to parliament and plans to convene a session, according to local broadcaster YTN TV.

South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol declared an “emergency martial law” on Tuesday, accusing the country’s opposition of controlling the parliament, sympathising with North Korea and paralysing the government with anti-state activities.

Yoon made the announcement during a televised briefing, vowing to “eradicate pro-North Korean forces and protect the constitutional democratic order.” It wasn’t immediately clear how the steps would affect the country’s governance and democracy.

Yoon – whose approval rating has dipped in recent months – has struggled to push his agenda against an opposition-controlled parliament since taking office in 2022.

Yoon’s conservative People Power party had been locked in an impasse with the liberal opposition Democratic party over next year’s budget bill. He has also been dismissing calls for independent investigations into scandals involving his wife and top officials, drawing quick, strong rebukes from his political rivals.

The Democratic party reportedly called an emergency meeting of its lawmakers after Yoon’s announcement.