The president of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, gave a speech declaring martial law in the country. His explanation was something akin to “in order to save democracy.” From his speech:

Since the inauguration of our government, the National Assembly has initiated 22 impeachment motions against government officials, and since the inauguration of the 22nd National Assembly in June, it is pushing for the impeachment of 10 more. This is a situation that is not only unprecedented in any country in the world, but has never been seen since the founding of our country …

This trampling of the constitutional order of the free Republic of Korea and the disruption of legitimate state institutions established by the constitution and laws is an obvious anti-state act that plots insurrection. …

The National Assembly, which should be the foundation of liberal democracy, has become a monster that collapses the liberal democracy system. …

Dear citizens, I declare emergency martial law to defend the free Republic of Korea from the threats of North Korean communist forces and to eradicate the shameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people and to protect the free constitutional order.

And the National Assembly countered by blocking the declaration of martial law, with the military standing down. And it seems that even Yoon’s own party isn’t backing his martial law move.

It’s hard to get any really in-depth analysis at this point. But it seems at the outset, anyway, that he’s not a popular guy and it’s not a popular move. My hunch is that North Korea doesn’t have all that much to do with it. And I guess that either it will blow over, or we’ll find out more.

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