How the Korean people shut down an assault against their democracy | By Jinwoo Park (Winter 2025)

What happened in South Korea this past December was one of the most reckless political moves in modern history.
On December 3, President Seok-yul Yoon declared martial law, closed the National Assembly, and sent the military to enforce his order. This marks the first martial law in the history of the Sixth Republic (i.e., since the current democratic government was established in 1988). Similarly, there has been no declaration of martial law since 1981, when military dictator Doo-hwan Chun took power after a coup d’etat.
A lot has happened since then, and the political drama can seem impossible to untangle. The following is my attempt to shed some light and bring meaning to South Korea’s martial law crisis of December 2024.
Why Yoon called for martial law
In his declaration of martial law, Yoon stated that his justification was rooted in his frustration with the opposition-controlled National Assembly. He accused the Assembly of paralyzing his administration by impeaching government officials — most recently his defense minister — and blocking budgets, especially for the military and police. Yoon claimed that some members of the Assembly were “anti-government, pro-North Korean elements” working to destroy the country from within.
This rhetoric isn’t new — it’s a classic conservative strategy in South Korea to tie any opposition movements to North Korean and/or communist influences, especially if any opposition faction is even a millimeter left of center.
The opposition, the Democratic Party of Korea, has held a majority in the Assembly since 2020, and despite Yoon’s 2022 presidential victory, his People Power Party has not been able to gain control. After the 2024 parliamentary elections, the opposition retained the majority with 170 seats out of 300.
It is not a big stretch to infer that Yoon called for martial law as a disruption because he didn’t like what the elected opposition was doing with its majority in the National Assembly.

Opening moves by the military
Yoon’s martial law declaration came late at night — 10:28 p.m. — likely because he wanted a chance for the changeover to martial law to happen under the radar. Further corroboration for this rationale is the fact that the government failed to send out text alerts, something that usually happens when nationwide incidents are occurring. Within an hour of the declaration, the military, specifically the 707th Special Forces, were deployed to the National Assembly by helicopter.
So, why would the president send the military to guard the National Assembly? Well under Article 77, Section 5 of the Constitution, if a majority of the National Assembly vote to end martial law, the president is required to accept. This law was built in as a check of presidential power, to prevent the abuse of martial law whenever the president decided he did not like the National Assembly. It essentially transfers the ultimate power to declare martial law over to the Assembly.
This was what Yoon was trying to prevent from happening. He wanted to block members of the National Assembly from gathering at the building and voting against the declaration. The clock was now ticking for the assembly members to stop Yoon.
Citizens fight back
At the time of the declaration of martial law, staff and some Assembly members were inside the National Assembly building. That group sprang into action, barricading themselves inside with anything they could find including desks, chairs, and other heavy objects. Once the Special Forces soldiers started to make their way into the building, they formed human walls and used fire extinguishers to repel the troops.
While that was happening inside, outside, word was spreading quickly despite the late hour, and hundreds, and eventually thousands of ordinary citizens rushed to the National Assembly building to block the soldiers from sealing the building off.
In this chaos, National Assembly members were trying to get in any way they could in order to vote to repeal martial law. There is some now-famous footage of opposition leader Jae-myoung Lee jumping over the fence to get in. And, in fact, that is how many of the Assembly members got through. Ordinary citizens helped the members clearing the way and making sure they could get over the fence and onto the grounds.
I also want to give credit to how hesitant the soldiers were, and how they just didn’t follow through with their orders to seal off the building with military force. For instance, not a single shot was fired, even when one assemblywoman, Gwi-ryung Ahn, grabbed a soldier’s gun by the barrel and pulled on it. The troops knew that the National Assembly members were trying to get over the fence, yet they made no attempt to stop them. There were many reported instances when the soldiers made physical contact with civilians, but then backed off, even though their mission was to stop the National Assembly members from getting through.
In fact, these troops certainly could have forced their way in to stop the vote. Later, it was revealed that preventing the members from assembling was part of their orders for that night. We can only conclude that evidently, in the face of all the popular support, the soldiers did not have the heart to stop the vote through military violence. Outside the building, protesters asked the soldiers not to escalate the situation, echoing past moments in Korean history, like the June Democratic Struggle of 1987, when citizens appealed directly to riot police and soldiers to stand down.
So, thanks to the citizens, and thanks to some quiet quitting by the soldiers, 190 Assembly members — well above the majority needed — convened that night and voted to revoke martial law. Yoon was required to comply, and he announced the end of martial law shortly thereafter.
National Election Commission raid
Now this is where I want to interject another possibility — what if the whole confusing event of December 3 and 4 was just a ruse for another objective? That may sound crazy. After all, martial law is a hell of a distractor for Yoon to throw. And for what?
However, within two minutes of the martial law announcement, an advance party of soldiers went to the National Election Commission, seized the phones of all staff there at the time, and took over the premises.
Think about that. It took an hour for the army to go to the National Assembly. The National Election Commission got raided two minutes after the declaration, meaning the troops were quite literally waiting outside the building until martial law was announced.
Then, additional soldiers and government agents began to arrive. Eventually, around 300 staff and officials were on site, including IT personnel from the Defense Counterintelligence Command. This was more people than the number of troops they sent to the National Assembly.
The National Election Commission had been Yoon’s obsession for awhile. He believed there had been election fraud during the 2020 general election, when conservatives suffered a historic defeat. It resulted in the lowest number of seats won by a major conservative party in 60 years, while the voter turnout, at 66.2 percent, was the highest in the history of Korea’s general elections. This happened in 2020, despite the heavy lockdown of the pandemic.
After this election catastrophe for conservatives, right-wing YouTubers and other media repeated and fueled some baseless claims of election fraud. The National Election Commission had very reasonable explanations for every complaint; there was no evidence to support most accusations. It is now commonly understood that these accusations were attributable only to Youtubers and conservative media sources trying to farm views and get money from angry conservatives who just couldn’t accept the new reality.
Since Yoon had difficulty with an opposition majority National Assembly, he was prone to thinking these election fraud allegations were credible. Thus, he targeted the Election Commission.
This rationale was corroborated by the now ex-defense minister, Yong-hyun Kim, who stated that they went to the Election Commission to investigate election fraud.
So, let that sink in.
President Yoon called for martial law to find evidence for election fraud accusations that were started by right wing Youtubers.
And of course, after all that trouble, they found no evidence of election fraud.

The long road to impeachment
The next morning, six political parties with representation in the National Assembly, including the official opposition party, jointly filed a motion to impeach President Yoon, citing his martial law declaration as a violation of democracy and an act of rebellion, among a list of other crimes.
Public sentiment polls have been overwhelmingly in favor of impeachment, with over 70 percent supporting it.
In order for the impeachment vote to pass, the Assembly needs a two-thirds majority — 200 votes. The People Power Party (Yoon’s party), holds 108 seats. At least eight members of Yoon’s party would have to defect for the vote to pass. Immediately after December 3, the PPP stated that while they disagree with the martial law declaration, they would not support impeachment — that they wouldn’t defect.
But instead of voting on the impeachment, the PPP boycotted the vote on December 7. The National Assembly held two critical votes on the day of the impeachment vote: The first concerned a special investigation into First Lady Keon-hee Kim, and the second was on impeachment of President Yoon. The investigation vote failed as the PPP overwhelmingly voted against it. Then, its members started walking out before the start of the impeachment vote. Their exit left the chamber without the required quorum of 200 members to proceed with the vote.
In the wake of this action, the public backlash intensified, with massive protests across the country demanding the removal of both Yoon and the PPP. Unfazed by the PPP’s brazenness, the opposition alliance tried again. On December 11, a second impeachment bill was introduced, with the vote scheduled for December 14. As a result of rising criticism from not just the Democratic opposition, but the millions who gathered outside the National Assembly in continuous protest, a dozen PPP members defected from their party, and the second impeachment vote was passed.
In accordance with the impeachment, President Yoon was suspended from his duties.

A victory for the Korean people
Much has happened since the December 14 vote, with an unending stream of political drama constantly unfolding. Here’s just a brief summary of the most important events to give an idea of how dizzying the drama has been.
- December 27: Acting President Duck-soo Han was impeached by the National Assembly for delaying the appointment of Constitutional Court judges. Seven or more judges must be chosen to decide on Yoon’s impeachment trial, and there were only six judges appointed with three seats empty.
- December 31: Second Acting President Sang-mok Choi appointed two Constitutional Court judges but withheld a third nominee, enabling Yoon’s impeachment trial to proceed.
- January 3: The Corruption Investigation Office attempted to arrest Yoon for insurrection and abuse of power, resulting in an hours-long standoff at his residence with resistance from the Presidential Security Service. The arrest attempt ultimately failed.
- January 15: The second arrest operation was carried out successfully, with more than a thousand police officers on site, leading to Yoon’s detention, making him the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested and jailed.
- January 18: Yoon’s detention sparked violent protests at the Seoul Western District Court. Pro-Yoon demonstrators stormed the courthouse, clashed with police, and caused significant property damage, leading to multiple injuries and arrest.
- January 26: Yoon is successfully indicted for insurrection.
The above list does not include all the smaller back and forths between those in favor of the impeachment of Yoon and those against, as well as the crazy and off-the-rails words from Yoon himself, who apparently sees no wrongdoing at any of his recent actions or statements. But despite the mess, the Korean people and its leaders have stayed on track on the important matter of bringing Yoon to justice.
Yoon had some kind of plan, whether it was to seize power in a military coup, or to find evidence for election fraud. But he apparently forgot that Korea is a nation that has endured and overcome decades of authoritarian rule under military dictatorships, and that its people have won their political freedom back many times through continuous civil movements. Through many struggles, and by learning from past dictatorships, Koreans built a democracy that is not only legally robust but also deeply ingrained in the hearts of its citizens.
When Yoon tried to use the military to seize control, it wasn’t just lawmakers who defended against it — it was ordinary people. Although it was late at night when the public was informed of the martial law order, thousands immediately rushed to the National Assembly to protect their democracy. People were even getting into taxis from regions and cities outside of Seoul to drive in and be there, regardless of the cost.
It is notable that even the soldiers hesitated, and some apologized as they withdrew from the demonstrators, reflecting how deeply the principles of democracy resonate even within those who were acting under the orders of the wannabe dictator.
South Koreans have shown time and again that they won’t tolerate this kind of power grab. From the June Democratic Struggle of 1987, which ended decades of military rule, to the peaceful candlelight protests of 2016, which impeached President Geun-hye Park, Koreans have repeatedly risen against anti-democratic forces. The recent martial law episode was a continuation of that spirit — a nation that refuses to let anyone dismantle what they’ve fought so hard to build.
Yoon’s action on December 3 is not just a story of a failed coup by a megalomaniac. Instead, it’s a story of a vibrant democracy that thrives because of the people who are ready to stand up for it. For South Koreans, democracy isn’t just a system of government — it’s a way of life they will always defend.
