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Four months of turmoil: Timeline of Yoon’s declaration of martial law and the aftermath

Published: 04 Apr. 2025, 07:00 Updated: 04 Apr. 2025, 08:37

MICHAEL LEE
[email protected]

President Yoon Suk Yeol declares martial law at the presidential office in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Dec. 3, 2024. [YONHAP]

Dec. 3, 2024 — President Yoon Suk Yeol declares emergency martial law at 10:27 p.m., shortly after informing the Cabinet of his plan. Police begin restricting lawmakers from entering the National Assembly.

Police restrict access to the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Dec. 3, 2024. [NEWS1]

Dec. 4, 2024 — All 190 lawmakers present at the National Assembly vote for an end to martial law at 1:02 a.m. despite police and military efforts to prevent them from gathering. Yoon formally rescinds his decree around three hours later.

Parliamentary staff use fire extinguishers to repel martial law forces inside the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Dec. 4, 2024. [YONHAP]

Lawmakers vote unanimously to overturn President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law decree at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Dec. 4, 2024. [NEWS1]

Dec. 7, 2024 — Lawmakers from the liberal Democratic Party (DP) and its allies try, and fail, to impeach Yoon due to a boycott by the conservative People Power Party (PPP), which prevents the motion from meeting the 200-vote threshold required to impeach a president.

Protesters in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, call for President Yoon Suk Yeol's removal after an impeachment motion against him fails to garner enough votes from lawmakers on Dec. 7, 2024. [YONHAP]

Dec. 14, 2024 — The National Assembly impeaches Yoon with the backing of 204 lawmakers, including 12 PPP members. The Assembly’s representatives submit the motion to the Constitutional Court. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo becomes acting president.

Lawmakers from the conservative People Power Party (PPP) line up to vote on an impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Dec. 14, 2024. [YONHAP]

Dec. 16, 2024 — The six justices of the Constitutional Court meet for the first time over Yoon’s impeachment.

Dec. 27, 2024 — The National Assembly impeaches Han over his refusal to appoint Cho Han-chang, Chung Kye-sun and Ma Eun-hyuk to the Constitutional Court. Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok becomes acting president. The court holds its first preparatory hearing of Yoon’s impeachment trial to clarify the main charges against him.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo leaves the government complex in Jongno District, central Seoul, after being impeached by the National Assembly on Dec. 27, 2024. [YONHAP]

Dec. 31, 2024 — Acting President Choi Sang-mok appoints Cho and Chung to the Constitutional Court but holds off on appointing Ma, bringing the number of justices on the bench to eight. The Seoul Western District Court issues a detention warrant for Yoon that was requested by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO).

Acting President Choi Sang-mok pledges his allegiance to the Korean flag before a Cabinet meeting at the government complex in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Dec. 31, 2024. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Jan. 3, 2025 — The CIO tries, and fails, to take Yoon into custody due to resistance from the Presidential Security Service and the 55th Guard Corps of the Army’s Capital Defense Command. The Assembly’s lawyers request that the Constitutional Court not consider the charge of insurrection against Yoon at the second preparatory hearing of his impeachment trial.

Soldiers from the 55th Guard Corps of the Army Capital Defense Command prevent officials from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials from taking President Yoon Suk Yeol into custody at his official residence in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Jan. 3. [NEWS1]

Jan. 14, 2025 — The first formal hearing of Yoon’s impeachment trial takes place. It ends after just four minutes due to his absence.

Justices Lee Mi-son, left, and Jung Jung-mi, right, enter the main chamber of the Constitutional Court in Jongno District, central Seoul, for the first formal hearing of President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial on Jan. 14. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Jan. 15, 2025 — The CIO detains Yoon at his official residence at 10:33 a.m. He is questioned at the CIO for around 10 hours before being transported in the evening to the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi.

President Yoon Suk Yeol is seen in the back seat of a vehicle departing the headquarters of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, on Jan. 15. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Jan. 16, 2025 — Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and four others are selected as witnesses at the second impeachment hearing.

Jan. 17, 2025 — The CIO requests a formal arrest warrant for Yoon at 5:46 p.m.

Jan. 18, 2025 — Yoon appears for his warrant review session at the Seoul Western District Court.

Jan. 19, 2025 — The Seoul Western District Court grants the CIO an arrest warrant for Yoon at 2:53 a.m. The courthouse is attacked by a mob of Yoon’s supporters shortly afterward.

An unidentified man enters the Seoul Western District Court through a broken window in Mapo District, western Seoul, on Jan. 19. [NEWS1]

Jan. 21, 2025 — Yoon appears at the third impeachment hearing.

President Yoon Suk Yeol attends the third hearing of his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Jan. 21. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Jan. 23, 2025 — Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun claims he wrote Yoon’s martial law decree at the fourth impeachment hearing. The CIO transfers its investigation into Yoon to the prosecution.

Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun testifies at the Constitutional Court in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Jan. 23. [CONSTITUTIONAL COURT]

Jan. 26, 2025 — Prosecutors indict Yoon on the charge of leading an insurrection at 6:52 p.m.

Feb. 4, 2025 — Former Capital Defense Commander Lee Jin-woo denies he was ordered to arrest senior politicians at the fifth impeachment hearing. Former Defense Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung testifies that former Defense Minister Kim ordered the deployment of troops to the National Assembly. Hong Jang-won, the former first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), testifies he received the order to arrest key political figures from Yeo. Yoon formally asks the Seoul Central District Court to cancel his detention.

Hong Jang-won, former first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service, testifies at the Constitutional Court in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Feb. 4. [CONSTITUTIONAL COURT]

Feb. 6, 2025 — Former Army Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-keun testifies at the sixth impeachment hearing that Yoon ordered him to remove lawmakers gathered at the Assembly.

Former Army Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-keun testifies at the Constitutional Court in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Feb. 6. [CONSTITUTIONAL COURT]

Feb. 11, 2025 — Former Interior Minister Lee Sang-min denies Yoon ordered him to cut off water and power to left-leaning media outlets at the seventh impeachment hearing, while National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik says he tried to dissuade Yoon from declaring martial law. National Election Commission Secretary General Kim Yong-bin testifies that no evidence of fraud was uncovered in relation to the 2024 general election.

Former Interior Minister Lee Sang-min arrives at the Constitutional Court in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Feb. 11. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Feb. 13, 2025 — Former Seoul police chief Kim Bong-sik denies Yoon ordered him to send police to blockade the Assembly at the eighth impeachment hearing, while NIS Director Cho Tae-yong expresses doubt about Hong’s political neutrality and credibility.

Former Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Kim Bong-sik takes the witness oath at the Constitutional Court in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Feb. 13. [CONSTITUTIONAL COURT]

Feb. 18, 2025 — The Constitutional Court confirms prosecutors’ interrogation records of witnesses can be used as evidence at the ninth impeachment hearing.

Feb. 20, 2025 — The first preliminary hearing of Yoon’s criminal trial takes place at the Seoul Central District Court in the morning. Han testifies at the 10th impeachment hearing that the Dec. 3 Cabinet meeting on was marked by irregularities and that none present supported imposing martial law. The Seoul Central District Court holds a hearing to consider Yoon’s petition regarding his detention.

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo testifies at the Constitutional Court in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Feb. 20. [CONSTITUTIONAL COURT]

Feb. 25, 2025 — Yoon argues at the 11th and final hearing that his martial law decree was intended to warn the public about a national crisis precipitated by antistate forces. Rep. Jung Chung-rae urges the Constitutional Court to dismiss Yoon.

President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers his final statement at the 11th and last hearing of his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Tuesday evening. [CONSTITUTIONAL COURT]

Feb. 27, 2025 — The Constitutional Court rules that acting President Choi Sang-mok violated the National Assembly’s right to select three justices by refusing to appoint Ma.

Protesters call on the Constitutional Court to dismiss President Yoon Suk Yeol from office during a street rally in Jongno District, central Seoul, on March. 1. [YONHAP]

March 7, 2025 — The Seoul Central District Court orders Yoon released from jail after deciding that prosecutors filed their indictment after his legal detention period had lapsed.

March 8, 2025 — Prosecutors order Yoon’s release from the Seoul Detention Center.

President Yoon Suk Yeol greets supporters upon arriving at his official residence in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on March 8. [YONHAP]

April 4, 2025 — The Constitutional Court issues its ruling on the National Assembly’s impeachment motion against Yoon.

BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]