South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s future is hanging in the balance after a chaotic night during which he dramatically declared martial law and then withdrew it just as suddenly, plunging the country into turmoil. Yoon, who won the top job by a whisker in 2022, was already deeply unpopular and under growing pressure since losing parliamentary elections in April, regarded as a vote of confidence on his time in office. He’s been plagued by personal problems too.
Last month he apologised in a televised address to the nation for a string of controversies surrounding his wife that included allegedly accepting a luxury Dior handbag and stock manipulation. Now he’s facing demands that he resign and lawmakers have said they will move to impeach him. Tuesday night’s short-lived attempt to impose martial law took everyone by surprise.
It sent lawmakers scrambling to the National Assembly in Seoul to vote against the order. Outside, police had assembled as thousands of protesters gathered in fury. The same crowd erupted in cheers when Yoon backtracked within hours and declared he would withdraw the martial law order.
That he would play such a high-stakes game, and then back off so easily, came as a surprise to South Koreans and the rest of the world. Yoon was a relative newcomer to politics when he won the presidency. He had risen to national prominence for prosecuting the corruption case against disgraced former President Park Geun-hye in 2016.
In 2022, the political novice.