South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced an "emergency martial law" on Tuesday accusing the country's opposition of ruling the parliament, sympathizing with North Korea and paralyzing the government with anti-state actions. Yoon declared the step as critical for defending the country's constitutional order.
"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," Yoon said in a televised address.
Han Dong-hoon, who serves in the administration of Yoon, called the decision "wrong" and vowed to "stop it with the people."
Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, who narrowly lost to Yoon in the 2022 presidential election, said the implementation of martial law was both "illegal and unconstitutional."
The opposition Democratic Party has a majority in parliament and is therefore able to thwart Yoon's plans for next year's budget in South Korea.
Opposition lawmakers last week gave the go ahead to a downsized budget plan through a parliamentary committee.
"Our National Assembly has become a haven for criminals, a den of legislative dictatorship that seeks to paralyze the judicial and administrative systems and overturn our liberal democratic order," Yoon said.
The president accused opposition lawmakers of cutting "all key budgets essential to the nation's core functions, such as combating drug crimes and maintaining public security... turning the country into a drug haven and a state of public safety chaos."
Yoon went on to label the opposition, which holds a parliamentary majority, as "anti-state forces intent on overthrowing the regime" and described his decision to impose martial law as "inevitable."
Meanwhile, the president has also been dismissing calls for independent investigations into scandals involving his wife and top officials, attracting stinging rebukes from his political rivals.
Tuesday's decision from Yoon, who took office in 2022 but has seen his approval rating dip in recent months, has sent shockwaves through the country, which had a series of authoritarian leaders early in its history but has been considered democratic since the 1980s.