'Arrest Yoon Suk Yeol': Citizens refuse to leave National Assembly

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'Arrest Yoon Suk Yeol': Citizens refuse to leave National Assembly

Published: 04 Dec. 2024, 01:46 Updated: 04 Dec. 2024, 14:28

YOON SO-YEON
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Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Citizens gather outside the National Assembly gates in western Seoul on Dec. 3 after President Yoon Suk Yeol declares an emergency martial law. [YOON SO-YEON]

Deep sighs of relief came from citizens gathered outside the National Assembly at 1:10 a.m. on Wednesday as lawmakers ended President Yoon Suk Yeol's three-hour martial law in an emergency plenary meeting.

Helicopters retreated from the National Assembly grounds one by one, while police stood their ground in front of the gates, crowded by hundreds of citizens protesting the president's "unbelievable" decision.

"This is wrong, this is so wrong," said a woman from Goyang, Gyeonggi, who "ran from home to the National Assembly immediately after hearing the news of the emergency martial law" with her husband.

"How could he declare martial law in this day and age?" she said. "My husband called me to watch the news and told me that President Yoon Suk Yeol had declared martial law. I thought I was dreaming."

The couple were among hundreds of protesters gathered outside the National Assembly who had been trying to get the police to open the gates since 10:22 p.m. on Tuesday when President Yoon declared emergency martial law "to protect the Republic of Korea from the threats of North Korean communist forces."

Citizens gather outside the National Assembly gates in western Seoul on Dec. 3 after President Yoon Suk Yeol declares an emergency martial law. [YOON SO-YEON]

The National Assembly convened a plenary session and passed a resolution requesting the lifting of the emergency martial law early Wednesday, but the crowd refused to go home.

People were chanting, "Arrest Yoon Suk Yeol, arrest Yoon Suk Yeol" on the one side, while some were trying to climb over the walls into the parliamentary complex grounds.

"I was so furious that I had to come out," said Kim, a man in his 50s, who was stopped by a police officer after trying to climb over. "This is a direct violation of Constitutional law and an abuse of state power," he said.

A citizen tries to climb over the National Assembly wall on Dec. 3 in western Seoul. [CHEA SARAH]

National Assembly staff were also put on red alert.

"We had no idea about the martial law but we did see a lot of police starting around lunch time," said Kim, a staff worker at the National Assembly. "They wouldn't let even the parliament workers in, even when we showed them our ID cards. This is the very reason why citizens are calling it dictatorship. Does martial law really make sense in this era?"

The presidential office has not issued any statement as of 1:40 a.m.

BY LIM JEONG-WON, SARAH CHEA, YOON SO-YEON [[email protected]]