Why South Korea's President Declared Martial Law

In one of the most momentous nights in recent South Korean history, President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law and then lifted the decree hours later after lawmakers voted unanimously to reject it. On Tuesday night, Yoon said temporary military rule was being imposed to "crush anti-state forces that have been wreaking havoc," accusing opposition lawmakers of sympathizing with North Korea. He said he would stop South Korea from "falling into the depths of national ruin." The move, however, was widely seen as a response to political setbacks, the BBC reports. Last week, Yoon's approval rating fell below 20%.

• Lame duck. Yoon, who was elected in 2022, has been a "lame duck president" since the opposition Democratic Party regained control of the National Assembly in a landslide election victory in April, the BBC notes. Since then, his government has struggled to pass legislation.

• The last straw? Yoon has been vetoing the opposition's bills, but before the martial law declaration, he had been in a standoff with lawmakers over a budget bill he was unable to veto, the Washington Post reports. In his martial law declaration, he accused the opposition of cutting "all key budgets essential to the nation's core functions, such as combating drug crimes and maintaining public security," creating a "state of public safety chaos."
• Scandals. Opposition lawmakers said Yoon was declaring martial law to avoid impeachment over his vetos and his blocking of investigations of a series of scandals involving his wife, the Telegraph reports. One scandal involved spy camera footage that showed the first lady accepting a gift of a luxury bag from a pastor.
• Members of his own party were surprised. The leader of Yoon's People Power Party, Han Dong-hoon, called the declaration "the wrong move" and vowed to "stop it with the people," the AP reports. Insiders say members of the party were as shocked as the public. "This is the sole decision by the commander in chief," a source in the presidential office tells the Economist. "It was a huge surprise to most of the staff here, and the cabinet members as well."

• The decree. The decree Yoon signed Tuesday banned all political activities, as well as "fake news, manipulation of public opinion, and false propaganda," per the Post. News media, it said would be placed "under martial law control."
• "Foolhardy and deeply misguided." "The political momentum was already seeping away from the president, which may be why he decided to act in this way," John Nilsson-Wright, the head of Cambridge University's Japan and Koreas program, tells the Guardian. "But it was a foolhardy and deeply misguided decision, and I suspect it will have backfired, if the early indicators are anything to go by."

(More South Korea stories.)