Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
Author | Nan Zhi (@Assassin_Malvo)
Around 21:50 tonight, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol suddenly delivered a televised speech, announcing the implementation of 'emergency martial law.' Yoon listed several reasons, claiming the opposition party is manipulating the National Assembly and disrupting the country, stating that he will eliminate 'anti-national forces' within South Korea. Specific martial law measures are not yet known.
The Korean market plummeted across the board, while safe-haven assets rose.
After the announcement, all tokens on the South Korean exchange plummeted, and there was a severe negative premium. The Bitcoin-Korean Won trading pair on Upbit spiked to below 90 million KRW (approximately $63,300), and Upbit subsequently experienced trading interruptions due to increased traffic. As of the time of writing, Bitcoin's price has rebounded to around 128 million KRW (approximately $90,000).
In addition to cryptocurrencies, various assets have also been affected, with the KRW/USD exchange rate dropping about 1%, hitting a two-year low, while classic safe-haven assets like gold and the yen rose correspondingly.
However, this news has not had a significant impact on the cryptocurrency market outside of South Korea. The market showed that within 15 minutes of the announcement, Bitcoin briefly fell about 0.8% but then rebounded by 1.0%, with a cumulative increase of 0.2%. The only noticeable declines were in South Korean concept coins, such as ICX and AERGO, which both fell over 8%, while LUNC bucked the trend and rose by 3%.
What is the direction of martial law?
According to Jinshi reports, the recent push by South Korea's opposition party for a series of legislation against the president's wife and impeachment of public officials, including prosecutors, may have been the trigger for Yoon Suk-yeol's announcement of 'emergency martial law.'
CCTV reported that conflicts had already occurred outside the National Assembly, with crowds attempting to enter facing off against police. Shortly thereafter, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol appointed a martial law commander.
At 22:49, the South Korean Martial Law Command issued the first martial law order announcing the following measures to be implemented nationwide starting December 3, 2024, at 23:00:
1. Prohibit all political activities including those of the National Assembly, local councils, political parties, and any gatherings, demonstrations, etc. 2. Prohibit all actions that deny the liberal democratic system or attempt to subvert it, including fake news, fabrication of public opinion, and false incitement. 3. All speech and publications are under the control of the Martial Law Command. 4. Prohibit strikes, work stoppages, and gatherings that cause social disorder. 5. All medical personnel, including interns and residents, who are currently on strike or have left their posts must return to work within 48 hours, and violations will be punished according to martial law. 6. Ordinary citizens will have their daily lives minimally disrupted, except for anti-national forces or other subversive entities. Those who violate the above martial law can be arrested, detained, or searched without a warrant according to Article 9 of the Korean Republic Martial Law (special measures by the Martial Law Commander) and punished according to Article 14 of martial law.
Exchange movements
Despite encountering short-term spikes and 'unplugging the network,' Upbit's trading and negative premiums have gradually returned to normal. According to Jinshi reports, South Korea's securities exchange has stated that trading will resume normally on Wednesday.
However, whether this political event will further escalate, and whether the Korean market will face another shock, remains unknown. Nonetheless, the short-term price spikes have allowed arbitrage users with KYC on Korean exchanges to profit significantly; do not miss every major correction in the bull market.
