President Yoon Suk-Yeol, who belongs to the conservative party People's Party (PPP), has introduced a state of emergency to protect the country from "communist forces". Yoon also accuses the political opposition of sympathizing with the communist dictatorship North Korea.
The state of emergency means, among other things, that all political activities, including in parliament, as well as public demonstrations and gatherings are prohibited. It also means that all media and publishers are put under control.
According to South Korean law, the state of emergency can be lifted with a majority vote in parliament, where the Democratic Party (DP) has a majority. Parliament has voted to repeal the war laws, and Speaker Woo Won-Shik has invalidated the state of emergency.
Opposition leader Lee Jae-Myung from DP, who lost to Yoon in the 2022 presidential election, labels Yoon's decision as "illegal and unconstitutional". Even the leader of Yoon's own party has said that the decision is incorrect and has promised to "stop it together with the people".
Yoon's decision comes as PPP and DP have not yet agreed on next year's budget proposal. Last week, opposition parliamentarians approved a significantly smaller budget.
Yoon Suk-Yeol later announced in a televised speech that he would lift the state of emergency.
The last time a state of emergency was declared in South Korea was in 1979 after the murder of the then-dictator Park Chung Hee.
