South Korea revises martial law after coup attempt

South Korean lawmakers on July 3 supported an amendment to the martial law law. It now prohibits any attempts to prevent lawmakers from entering the National Assembly.

The BBC writes about this.

This came after former President Yun Seok-yeol declared martial law on December 3, 2024. When the military gathered in front of the National Assembly that night, lawmakers had to climb over the walls to vote against the president’s decree. The amendment also prohibits the military and police from entering the National Assembly without the approval of the speaker of parliament.

What preceded

On the night of December 3-4, 2024, then-President of South Korea Yoon Seok Yeol declared martial law in the country to “protect the constitutional order” — the first time since the 1980s. The reason was that the opposition Democratic Party to the president, which has a majority in parliament, rejected the government’s budget proposal and decided to impeach the state auditor and the attorney general.

In total, martial law lasted about six hours, but caused an acute internal crisis. In December 2024, Yoon Seok Yeol was informed of suspicion of treason and abuse of power and was banned from traveling abroad. The ex-president was tried to be detained on January 3, 2025, but his bodyguards prevented this, and on January 15, he was still detained on a second attempt. On March 8, it became known that Yoon Seok Yeol had been released from prison. But he still had to stand trial.

In early April, the Constitutional Court announced a unanimous verdict supporting the impeachment of Yoon Seok Yeol and removing him from the presidency. In the presidential election on June 3, the candidate from the opposition Democratic Party Lee Jae Myung won.

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