South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declares martial law in late ...
Police are clashing with protesters outside the South Korean parliament, after the country's president Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law.
Mr Yoon made the call in an unannounced late-night address broadcast live on YTN television on Tuesday night, local time, citing the need to protect the country from "communist forces".
"To safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea's communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements … I hereby declare emergency martial law," Mr Yoon said in a live televised address to the nation.
"Through this martial law, I will rebuild and protect the free Republic of Korea, which is falling into the depths of national ruin.
"I will eliminate anti-state forces as quickly as possible and normalise the country."
Mr Yoon also asked the people to believe in him and tolerate "some inconveniences".
Yonhap news agency cited the military as saying activities by parliament and political parties would be banned, and that media and publishers would be under the control of the martial law command.
The military also said that the country's striking doctors should return to work within 48 hours, Yonhap reported. Thousands of doctors have been striking for months over government plans to expand the number of students at medical schools.
Police struggled to contain the crowd outside South Korea's parliament after martial law came into effect. (AP: Lee Jin-man)
All military units in the South, which remains technically at war with the nuclear-armed North, have been ordered to strengthen their emergency alert and readiness postures, Yonhap reported.
It's not clear how long the martial law could stand for, but under South Korean law, it can be lifted with a majority vote in the parliament.
South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung said the president's move was "illegal and unconstitutional".
"Tanks, armoured personnel carriers, and soldiers with guns and knives will rule the country," Mr Lee said in a live-stream address.
"The economy of the Republic of Korea will collapse irretrievably.
"My fellow citizens, please come to the National Assembly," he said.
Soldiers prepare to advance to the main building of the National Assembly in South Korea. (Yonhap via Reuters)
He also told YTN TV that members of the military may try to arrest members of parliament.
The entrance to the National Assembly has been sealed, and MPs have been barred from entering the building, Yonhap reports.
The president accused the country's political opposition of controlling the parliament, sympathising with North Korea and paralysing the government with anti-state activities.
He cited a motion by the country's opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament, this week to impeach some of the country's top prosecutors and its rejection of a government budget proposal.
Helicopters flew over Seoul shortly after the declaration of martial law. (Reutesr: Kim Hong-Ji)
The opposition slashed approximately 4.1 trillion won ($4.4 billion) from the government's proposed 677 trillion won budget plan, cutting the government's reserve fund and activity budgets for the president's office, the prosecution, police and the state audit agency.
"Our National Assembly has become a haven for criminals, a den of legislative dictatorship that seeks to paralyse the judicial and administrative systems and overturn our liberal democratic order," Mr Yoon said.
He said he had no choice but to resort to such a measure in order to safeguard free and constitutional order.
People watched the president's address across the country. (AP: Ahn Young-joon)
The leader of Mr Yoon's conservative People Power Party, Han Dong-hoon, was also critical of the president's call and vowed to "stop it with the people."
The Korean won was down sharply against the US dollar. A central bank official said it was preparing measures to stabilise the market if needed.
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok has convened an emergency meeting among top economic officials, his spokesman said in a text message.
A spokesperson for the United States's national security council said US President Joe Biden's administration was in contact with the South Korean government and was monitoring the situation closely.
It was not immediately clear how Mr Yoon's call for martial law would affect the country's governance and democracy.
The president, whose approval rating has dropped in recent months, has struggled to implement his agenda against an opposition-controlled parliament since taking office in 2022.
Calls for independent investigations into scandals involving Mr Yoon's wife and some of his top officials have been dismissed by the president, drawing condemnation from his political rivals.
ABC/wires
