Martial law for one night: how stable is South Korea?
In a surprise move, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law during a televised speech on Tuesday evening. He justified the decision by saying that the opposition sympathised with North Korea and was deliberately sabotaging his government. Just a few hours later the country's parliament voted in favour of lifting martial law, and the president subsequently withdrew it. Europe's press takes stock.
Dangerous rifts in society
The coming days will show how robust the country's democracy is, writes Der Spiegel:
“Downtown Seoul will likely be filled with demonstrators, and it's possible that impeachment proceedings against the president could soon be underway. This could be a moment when people come together, as they have so often in past crises. But the rifts in society and the hostility between the political camps, which Yoon has also fuelled, are dangerous. It is precisely these rifts that North Korea could exploit with disinformation and fake news. For South Korea's sake it is to be hoped that people will now stand together for the freedom they once fought so hard for.”
The president lost his head
South Korea almost fell victim to a personal crisis, writes Visão:
“The South Korean political model is a replica of the US system. The president governs, elects the prime minister and the members of the government, but doesn't enact laws. He can impose martial law, but the National Assembly has the power to overturn this decision. And that is exactly what it has done, without hesitation. This is not a political crisis or a crisis of national security. It's a personal crisis. The president is furious about his wife, who is under investigation for allegedly manipulating the stock market. And he lost his head. He tried to order the military to storm the parliament, but failed.”
US asleep at the wheel
The US's failure to see this coming reflects poorly on Joe Biden, says Jutarnji list:
“The fact that the White House was caught completely off guard is perhaps the most dramatic aspect of the story, because it shows to what extent Joe Biden has been 'asleep at the wheel' and how he has left the West at the mercy of the troubled seas of geopolitical upheaval in the last months of his first and last mandate. It is difficult, almost impossible, to find a sensible explanation for how the strongest power with the best secret service in the world failed to get wind of an attempted coup in a country that hosts perhaps the largest US military base and around 30,000 US soldiers.”
Just short of a coup d'état
Helsingin Sanomat believes that the danger of a military coup has been averted for the time being:
“The proclamation of martial law looks like a move by the president aimed at ending a political stalemate. It could even be described as an attempted coup d'état. ... The army was able to maintain the state of emergency for a few more hours despite the parliamentary decision. If it had held out longer with the support of the president, it would have effectively been a military coup. With the president's change of heart this morning and the lifting of the state of emergency, this danger seems to have been averted.”
President at an impasse
Aside from making increasing use of his veto power recently President Yoon was at a loss as to what steps he should take, observes Tvnet:
“The president does not have power of veto over decisions on the national budget, meaning that disagreements between parliament and the government have reached an impasse now that next year's budget has to be passed. .. Whether Yoon Suk-yeol's risky decision to impose martial law could have positive consequences for his policies or party is hard to predict at this stage. So far, South Korean media are reporting that the move has further undermined the confidence of both the political elite and the public in the president, and that there will be calls for his impeachment.”
A grave miscalculation
Yoon has gone too far, says The Economist:
“His move went far beyond the bounds of normal political activity in democratic South Korea, evoking instead the tactics of Park Chung-hee, a military dictator who ruled the country in the 1960s and 1970s. ... Yoon seemingly hoped to save his administration. Instead, he has almost certainly sealed his own downfall. If he does not resign himself, parliament will probably move to impeach him. ... The foreign-policy implications of a change in power in Seoul would be vast - and come at a sensitive time, as Donald Trump prepares to take office in America and North Korea takes an ever more hostile stance towards the South.”
Stress test for democracy
Bogusław M. Majewski, former Polish ambassador to Singapore and diplomat at the US and Brussels, sees South Korea's democracy being put to the test in Onet.pl:
“This is the tenth time martial law that has been imposed since South Korea was founded in 1948. Each time it was a reaction to internal tensions. But the last time it was imposed was 43 years ago. This means that almost two generations of Koreans have gone through life without any awareness of what martial law is, what the suspension of political rights, constitutional bodies and freedom of expression means. ... The next few days will show whether democracy in South Korea is strong enough to stand up to a dictatorship.”