Apr. 21, 2025 |
Seoul divisions. Political chaos broke out in South Korea on the night of December 3, when the country’s former president, Yoon Suk Yeol, declared martial law and disbanded the legislature—a stunning attempt to seize total control over the country’s government. Later that night, the National Assembly convened—despite soldiers trying to prevent lawmakers from entering the building—and overturned the declaration. Even some members of Yoon’s conservative People Power Party (PPP) voted against his move. The assembly later impeached him, but he refused to step down for weeks, and that led to a standoff between the military and security services loyal to him.
Finally, though, Yoon left the presidential palace. On April 4, the Constitutional Court upheld his impeachment, ending his time in office. The court also reinstated the former prime minister, Han Duck-soo, as acting president, after the National Assembly had impeached him, too. They found out that Han hadn’t known about Yoon’s plan to declare martial law—and had even tried to talk him out of it. Now, new presidential elections are scheduled for June 3.
Is everything back to “normal”?
—Michael Bluhm
