South Korean president declares emergency martial law

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on Tuesday in an unannounced late night TV address in which he accused opposition parties of sympathizing with North Korea and controlling parliament.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on Tuesday in an unannounced late night TV address in which he accused opposition parties of sympathizing with North Korea and controlling parliament.

“I declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free constitutional order,” Yoon was quoted by Reuters as saying on the country's YTN news channel.

Yoon did not specify how martial law — a temporary rule by military authorities in a time of emergency, when the civil authorities are deemed unable to function — would affect governance and democracy in the country which is a key U.S. ally in the region.

There have been no reports of tanks or soldiers on the streets in the capital Seoul or elsewhere in the country.

It is the first time since 1980 that martial law has been declared in South Korea.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/south-korean-martial-law-emergency-rcna182606

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