SEOUL, South Korea — Opposition lawmakers in South Korea moved to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday after he shocked the country by declaring martial law, only to lift the order six hours later under intense pressure.
The Democratic Party, which controls parliament, called Yoon's surprise power grab an "unconstitutional and illegal declaration of martial law" as it formally submitted the articles of impeachment with the backing of five smaller opposition parties.
The vote on the impeachment motion, which requires a two-thirds majority to pass, could occur as early as Friday. The Constitutional Court would then decide whether to confirm the impeachment.
Lawmakers are also seeking to impeach Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, a Yoon ally who has already tendered his resignation and insisted that all responsibility for the martial law declaration “lies with me alone.”
Earlier, the Democratic Party's chief spokesperson, Cho Seung-rae, said it also intends to impeach Interior Minister Lee Sang-min.
Yoon, Kim and Lee should also be charged with insurrection, along with the martial law commander, Gen. Park Ahn-soo, National Police Commissioner Yoon Hee-keun and other key military and police participants, Cho said.
Yoon's declaration "nearly brought the nation to a halt," said Han Dong-hoon, who is the leader of the People Power Party, to which the president belongs. The party “respects and abides by the spirit of our constitution.”
Still, Han stopped short of calling on Yoon to step down as president.
Meanwhile, government officials rushed to reassure rattled South Koreans, many of whom slept through the country’s six hours of martial law, which began late Tuesday and ended by Wednesday morning.
“I fully understand the great anxiety you must be feeling,” Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said in a statement, adding that he took full responsibility “for all the processes that have led to the current situation.”
“From this moment onward, the Cabinet will dedicate itself, alongside public officials from all ministries, to ensuring the nation’s stability and the uninterrupted continuation of your daily lives,” he said.
Yoon’s office said Wednesday that his chief of staff and all senior presidential secretaries had tendered their resignations. But there was no other comment from Yoon, who canceled his official schedule for the day.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed Yoon’s order to rescind the martial law declaration.
“We continue to expect political disagreements to be resolved peacefully and in accordance with the rule of law,” Blinken said in a statement.
The South Korean stock market opened as normal Wednesday, with its benchmark Kospi index ending down 1.44% and the Kosdaq index ending down 1.98%, CNBC reported. South Korea’s currency, the won, regained most of its losses against the dollar after it hit a two-year low overnight on Yoon’s martial law declaration.
At a news conference in Seoul, officials from the S&P credit rating agency said the brief period of martial law was not expected to hurt South Korea’s credit rating.
Yoon, whose conservative government squeaked into office in 2022, has seen his approval ratings plunge to less than 20% in recent weeks amid a burgeoning influence-peddling scandal involving him and his wife.
Democratic lawmakers have sought to impeach multiple government officials and are in a fight with Yoon over next year’s budget.
Yoon made the surprise martial law announcement in a late-night TV address Tuesday, accusing opposition lawmakers of paralyzing the government and saying he made the move “in order to protect the constitutional order based on freedom and eradicate shameful pro-North Korea anti-state groups that are stealing freedom and happiness of our people.”
Under the martial law declaration, the operations of the National Assembly were suspended and all public demonstrations were banned. It also put all media under the control of Yoon's government. And it ordered the country’s striking doctors to return to work within 48 hours.
It was the first time since 1980 that martial law had been declared in South Korea, a country of 50 million people that spent decades under military-authoritarian rule but has since transitioned into a vibrant democracy and the world’s 10th-largest economy.
But within minutes of Yoon’s announcement, lawmakers defied the president by descending on the National Assembly in central Seoul, where they had to find their way around the police barricades that had been set up to keep them from entering the building.
They were joined by hundreds of protesters, some of whom scuffled with the 300 or so soldiers and police officers at the site.
Within a few hours, lawmakers passed a resolution to nullify Yoon’s martial law declaration and ordered the soldiers out of parliament.
Faced with a growing rebellion, Yoon backed down and went back on national television to reverse his martial law declaration.
U.S. officials said Tuesday that they had not been notified in advance about Yoon’s announcement, but they affirmed the “ironclad” nature of the U.S. alliance with South Korea, which hosts about 28,500 American troops.
The Pentagon spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, said the martial law order had “essentially no impact” on U.S. forces.
Stella Kim reported from Seoul and Jennifer Jett from Hong Kong.