Our Statement on Yoon’s Martial Law
December 3, 2024
Posted in: In the News • News • Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 3, 2024
Women Cross DMZ calls on President Biden, President-elect Trump, U.S. lawmakers, and democratic leaders around the world to condemn the illegal imposition of martial law by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, and join growing South Korean calls to safeguard their hard-won democracy by calling for President Yoon’s resignation.
Thanks to a swift vote by the South Korean National Assembly and thousands of South Koreans who poured into the streets in protest, President Yoon was forced to revoke martial law. As we celebrate the power of the people to fight back, we should all be alarmed that a single individual can unilaterally endanger democracy, the safety of ordinary people, and peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.
On December 3, 2024, President Yoon abruptly declared emergency martial law in South Korea in an unplanned national television broadcast, citing “threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements.” In the weeks leading up to this, opposition party leaders and thousands of South Koreans were calling for Yoon’s impeachment. In response to this growing outcry and in an attempt to quash dissent, Yoon declared martial law. Within two hours, 190 National Assembly Members (including members of Yoon’s own People Power Party) fought back armed special warfare soldiers who tried to seize the legislature, and unanimously voted to overturn the martial law.
Since Yoon took power in 2022, tensions between South Korea and North Korea have remained high with growing threats of renewed fighting on the Korean Peninsula. South Korea has also witnessed historic democratic backsliding as Yoon’s administration targeted critics, journalists, labor unions, and peace and reunification activists. In two years, the Yoon administration has been embroiled in a series of endless scandals including political corruption and alleged election interference. His approval rating sank to 17 percent last month. Yoon also gutted the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, blaming feminism for South Korea’s low birth rates instead of the systemic patriarchy where women earn 31 percent of their male counterparts. Last month, the Yoon administration banned Women Cross DMZ Founder Christine Ahn from entering South Korea where she was to deliver the keynote speech at an international youth peace summit in Gyeonggi Province with no explanation or due process.
President Biden has previously touted an “ironclad” alliance with Yoon’s government as his legacy. However, Yoon’s attempt to suspend democracy and human rights in South Korea demonstrates that President Biden’s close ally is unfit to govern one of Asia’s biggest democracies and puts the Korean peninsula at further risk of an outbreak of war. Before Yoon further exploits military tensions on the peninsula, Biden and world leaders must condemn Yoon’s dangerous actions and support the South Korean people and their elected officials calling for Yoon’s resignation.