South Korea imposes travel ban on president over martial law declaration
The South Korean government ordered an overseas travel ban on President Yoon Suk Yeol as he faces investigation over a short-lived martial law declaration.
SEOUL, South Korea — The South Korean government on Monday ordered an overseas travel ban on President Yoon Suk Yeol as he faces investigation on possible rebellion charges over a short-lived martial law declaration that plunged the key U.S. ally into chaos last week.
Opposition lawmakers are continuing to pursue impeachment for Yoon, 63, who stunned the East Asian democracy on Tuesday when he declared emergency martial law, accusing the opposition-controlled parliament of paralyzing the government and sympathizing with communist North Korea, with whom South Korea technically remains at war. The martial law order banned all political activity and censored the news media.
Lawmakers rushed to the National Assembly in central Seoul, pushing past martial law troops to enter the building and vote unanimously to reject the order, which Yoon lifted early Wednesday, about six hours after he announced it.
It was a shocking turn of events for South Korea, which spent decades under military-authoritarian rule before transitioning into a vibrant democracy and the world’s 10th-largest economy. Lawmakers swiftly called for Yoon to leave office, backed by thousands of protesters.
Demonstrators waving K-pop light sticks at a protest against Yoon outside the National Assembly in Seoul on Sunday. Ezra Acayan / Getty ImagesAn impeachment motion failed to pass Saturday after lawmakers from Yoon’s governing People Power Party (PPP) walked out of parliament en masse, leaving the legislature without a quorum. The opposition bloc holds 192 seats, eight short of the two-thirds majority the bill needs to pass in the 300-member unicameral legislature.
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