South Korea’s Yoon faces impeachment after martial law blunder: ‘political suicide’

The turmoil erupted late on Tuesday with the issuance of Martial Law Decree No 1 by Army Chief of Staff Park Ahn-soo, Yoon’s martial law commander, which effectively suspended all political activities and banned protests nationwide.

As armed special forces dispatched to the site attempted to assert control, hundreds of furious protesters formed a human barricade, preventing troops from entering the Assembly building. Thousands more demonstrators gathered outside, shouting for Yoon’s arrest.

“The reckless, unpopular president has effectively committed political suicide,” said Kang Won-taek, a political- science professor at Seoul National University, capturing the sentiment of a nation in disbelief.

Few South Koreans could comprehend such an “abrupt and anachronistic” action, Kang told This Week in Asia.