On Tuesday night, South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol suddenly made a live television speech and announced the implementation of "emergency martial law." Yoon Seok-yeol listed a number of reasons, saying that the opposition party was coercing the National Assembly and disrupting the country, and that he would purge "anti-national forces" in South Korea. The specific martial law measures are still unknown.
Outside analysts believe that the recent series of legislation pushed by South Korea's opposition parties against the president's wife and the impeachment of prosecutors and other public officials may be the trigger for Yoon Seok-yeol's declaration of "emergency martial law."
According to Yonhap News Agency, Han Dong-hoon, leader of South Korea's ruling party, opposed the president's imposition of martial law. He said it was a mistake to declare martial law and vowed to stop the move.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of South Korea's largest opposition party, said Yoon's declaration of martial law was unconstitutional. He said parliament would try to lift martial law, but the military might try to arrest lawmakers.
According to Yonhap News Agency, after the president declared martial law, the road leading to the South Korean parliament was blocked and the lawmakers could not enter. Clashes broke out in front of the South Korean parliament, and the crowd trying to enter the parliament was confronting the police.
South Korea's Ministry of National Defense will hold a meeting of major commanders. South Korea's finance minister will hold a meeting of senior economic officials at 11:40 p.m. Korea Standard Time (10:40 p.m. Beijing time). Bank of Korea officials said they are ready to take adequate measures to stabilize the market if necessary and will release information after the meeting.
After South Korea announced martial law, the won continued to fall against the dollar, hitting a two-year low. Ishares MSCI Korea ETF fell 3.1% pre-market. Safe-haven assets rose, and the dollar fell below 149 yen, hitting a new low in October. Spot gold rose in the short term, standing above $2,650 per ounce. There was a short-term surge in buying of U.S. Treasuries, and the yields of 5-year, 10-year and 30-year Treasury bonds fell.
On Tuesday, due to serious differences between the ruling and opposition parties, the Speaker of the National Assembly of South Korea announced that next year's budget bill would be shelved and urged the parties to reach an agreement before the 10th of this month.
Earlier, the Democratic Party, the largest opposition party in South Korea, passed a budget cut bill at the National Assembly Budget Committee on November 29. South Korean media said that this was the first time in South Korea's constitutional history. The Democratic Party originally planned to submit the budget bill at the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 2nd, while the ruling People's Power Party demanded that the bill be withdrawn.
The budget approved by the Democratic Party of Korea is 673.3 trillion won (10,000 won is about 51.8 yuan), which is 4.1 trillion won less than the government's initial plan. The cuts include special activity expenses for the presidential secretariat and the National Security Office, special work expenses and special activity expenses for the prosecution and the Audit Office, and special activity expenses for the police, totaling 76.1 billion won.
South Korea (JoongAng Ilbo) reported that this move has exacerbated the political tension in South Korea. Yoon Seok-yeol accused the Democratic Party of using the budget as a means of political struggle, completely ignoring the lives of the people, and paralyzing the national politics by relying solely on impeachment, special prosecution, and protecting opposition party representatives from judicial sanctions. He said that all major budgets related to the core functions of the country, combating drug crimes, and maintaining public security have been fully cut, seriously damaging the basic functions of the country and turning South Korea into a drug paradise and a state of public security crisis.
Lee has defended the budget cuts as an effort to reduce wasteful spending, and Democratic Party officials say they seek to protect taxpayers from what they say is abusive spending by powerful agencies such as the National Prosecutor's Office.
South Korea (JoongAng Ilbo) quoted Lee Jun-han, a political science professor at Incheon University, as saying, "The Procuratorate and the Audit Office did have reasons for cutting the special activity expenses, but the Democratic Party's handling of the budget bill in this way will inevitably be seen as an intention to 'rescue Lee Jae-myung.'" He said that since the Moon Jae-in government came to power, the confrontation between the Democratic Party and the prosecution has "pushed South Korean politics to extremes."
Lee Jae-myung is planning to appeal a court ruling last month. On November 15, local time, the Seoul Central District Court of South Korea sentenced Lee Jae-myung to one year in prison with a two-year reprieve for allegedly violating the (Public Office Election Act). If the final ruling upholds this verdict, Lee Jae-myung will immediately lose his parliamentary qualifications and cannot participate in the presidential election.
Lee Jae-myung is considered one of the most powerful figures in the current opposition camp in South Korea to challenge the position of the next South Korean president. Therefore, the verdict of Lee Jae-myung's case will have a direct and significant impact on the pattern of South Korea's next presidential election. Yoon Seok-yeol's term of office will end in 2027.
Article forwarded from: Jinshi Data