The measure, in the midst of fights over the budget // President Yoon faces investigations into corruption scandals involving his wife // Everything for the happiness of the people, justifies
▲ Outside the National Assembly, protesters repudiate the martial law imposed yesterday by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol.Photo Afp
Afp, Ap, Dpa, Xinhua and The Independent
La Jornada Newspaper
Wednesday, December 4, 2024, p. 21
Seoul. The president of South Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol, yesterday lifted the emergency martial law state which he imposed during a tense day of political drama in which soldiers surrounded Parliament and legislators rejected the president’s provision.
We will accept the request of the National Assembly, we will withdraw the deployed military and we will lift martial lawYoon declared.
Despite the military deployment, nearly 190 deputies managed to enter the building and vote in favor of a motion that blocked the application of the martial law decree and requested its lifting.
In response, the police and military personnel left the premises.
The conservative president, who belongs to the People Power Party, announced the state of emergency in the midst of a fight over the budget with the opposition, which he accuses of sympathizing with North Korea, after more than two years of a government marked due to their low popularity rates.
To safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by the communist forces of North Korea and to eliminate anti-state elements that steal the freedom and happiness of the people, I declare emergency martial lawhe justified.
Yoon has also dismissed independent investigations into scandals involving his wife, Kim Keon-hee, over accusations of plagiarism in her doctoral thesis and allegations about her ostentatious lifestyle; Opponents point out that the state of emergency was decreed to protect her, after the announcement of the appointment of a new prosecutor to investigate these allegations.
At the end of January this year, secretly recorded footage showed Yoon’s wife accepting a Dior brand bag, valued at $2,000, despite South Korean laws preventing public officials and their wives from receiving gifts.
National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik declared that martial law was invalid and that lawmakers would protect democracywhile the opposition leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, Lee Jae-myung, urged the population to protest in front of Parliament, which was sealed. Some lawmakers even threatened to initiate a motion to impeach Yoon, Yonhap news agency reported.
Han Dong-hoon, leader of the People’s Power Party, to which the South Korean president belongs, said that his decision was wrong and promised to stop it. of the people’s command.
Some protesters clashed with soldiers, but there were no reports of injuries or material damage, despite the fact that the uniformed officers aimed directly at civilians. A woman tried unsuccessfully to take a rifle from one of them while shouting: Aren’t you ashamed?reported the Hankook Ilbo media.
In Gwangju, a city in the southwest of the country known for its pro-democracy movement in 1980, during the period of the military dictatorship, activist groups organized protests against Yoon, and described his actions as a direct attack on the institutions, published the Korean Times.
For its part, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, with more than 1.2 million members, called for an indefinite general strike to force Yoon to resign for his measures. irrational and undemocratic.
The White House stated that Washington was seriously worried for the events in Seoul. A spokesperson for the National Security Council said that the government of outgoing President Joe Biden was not previously notified about the announcement of martial law.
After the events, the Pentagon, which has deployed nearly 28,500 soldiers to confront North Korea and its weapons program, added that the armies of the United States and South Korea were in contact and pointed out that there was no request for assistance.
The declaration of a state of emergency ordered by Yoon is the first since the country’s democratization in 1987. The last was in October 1979, after the assassination of former military dictator Park Chung-hee.
Under South Korean law, the president can declare martial law during times of war, similar situations or other comparable states of national emergency that require the use of military force to maintain peace and order, and may be used special measures to restrict freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and other rights, as well as the power of the courts.
Stay calm, asks the SRE
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked compatriots in South Korea to remain calm and follow the instructions of local authorities, after President Yoon Suk-yeol issued and then lifted martial law.
The Foreign Ministry urged that Mexicans in the Asian nation stay informed through official channels and specified that in the event that their physical integrity or freedom is in danger, they contact the Mexican embassy, at the emergency number 010. -9490-1694.
(With information from Arturo Sánchez Jiménez)
