'One of the great political errors': World media reacts to Korea's martial law debacle

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'One of the great political errors': World media reacts to Korea's martial law debacle

Published: 04 Dec. 2024, 18:41 Updated: 04 Dec. 2024, 22:37

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

A screen shows CNN and NHK news dealing with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law order. [NEWS1]

International media described South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration to be "one of the great political errors" while analyzing major reasons to have been the political challenges he was facing rather than external threats.

“South Korean president's declaration of martial law is ‘frankly bizarre,’” John Nilsson-Wright, Associate Professor at the University of Cambridge told CNN. “People in Seoul seem ‘mystified’ by what the president's announcement means,” the scholar said.

“It’s a mystery because it does seem as if he has made one of the great political errors you possibly could make,” said David Sanger, CNN's security analyst. Reflecting on his time in Korea in 1980, he added, “[Korean] people don’t want to revisit that past.”

International media outlets analyzed the major cause to be related to the recent political challenges the president was facing.

BBC reported that it soon became clear the incident has not been "spurred by external threats but by his own desperate political troubles,” and quoted an expert who warned that the situation could be “more damaging to Korea’s reputation as a democracy than even the January riots in the U.S..”

BBC suggested that Yoon’s declaration was likely driven by his political turmoil — pointing to his political gridlock, low approval ratings and personal scandals including allegations of corruption involving first lady Kim Keon Hee.

British outlet Telegraph and Japanese news agency Kyodo news echoed similar doubts, with the latter suggesting that Yoon’s move is likely aimed at addressing his “low approval rate of 20 percent.”

Many media outlets referenced 1980, when martial law was last imposed in Korea.

“The president’s move harkened back to an era of authoritarian leaders that the country has not seen since the 1980s,” wrote the British newspaper The Guardian.

Similarly, The Washington Post revisited South Korea’s difficult transition from military dictatorship to democracy, noting that Yoon’s announcement “dredged up painful memories of how military rule was used in the country before it turned to democracy in the late 1980s.”

The Washington Post further predicted that the martial law order, though it lasted only six hours, would have “wide-reaching ramifications in a country that has become known for its energetic democracy.”

Korean media associations have been more explicit in expressing their concerns about Yoon's decisions.

Local Press labor union including Journalists Association of Korea issued an emergency joint statement early Wednesday morning, calling for Yoon’s resignation. Korea News Editors’ Association — which represents 74 media outlets including Korea JoongAng Daily — also demanded Yoon take responsibility for jeopardizing democracy in a separate statement.

Yoon — in an unannounced televised address on Tuesday — justified his martial law order by citing “anti-state forces that have paralyzed state affairs” and “North Korean threats,” leaving many media outlets questioning the validity of his reasoning.

The resolution demanding the lifting of martial law was put to vote at the National Assembly, and the resolution passed at 1 a.m. Wednesday, nullifying the decree. Opposition parties including the Democratic Party of Korea submitted an impeachment bill against President Yoon Suk Yeol to the National Assembly on Wednesday.

BY WOO JI-WON [[email protected]]