In an unexpected late-night television speech on Tuesday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol imposed martial law and accused the nation’s biggest opposition party of anti-state and North Korean sympathies.
Martial law was last imposed by a South Korean president in 1980 in response to a widespread rebellion spearheaded by trade unions and students.
He made the unexpected revelation by pointing to a resolution to remove senior prosecutors and reject a government budget proposal from the opposition Democratic Party, which holds a majority in parliament.
190 of the 300 members of the South Korean parliament voted to reject the martial law declaration shortly after it was issued.
