A year after South Korea's martial law crisis, the president urges unity, but the wounds are still raw

"South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung has marked the anniversary of an attempt to impose martial law by declaring that those behind the bid to topple its democracy must face justice, while adding that the fight to secure the country remains unfinished. Investigations and trials of those who participated are still ongoing, Lee said in a televised address. He pledged that righteous unity would be possible only once accountability was delivered."

"However, on a typically crisp winter's afternoon in Seoul that belied the significance of the day, that sense of unity appeared as distant as ever. Several hundred supporters of ousted president Yoon Suk Yeol the instigator of the ill-fated martial law attempt gathered near the national assembly, waving Korean and American flags alongside banners defending his martial law as justified and shouting Yoon Again."

"On 3 December 2024, then-president Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, claiming pro-North anti-state forces and election fraud threatened national security. The command aimed to ban political activities, authorise warrantless arrests and deploy 280 armed troops to the national assembly. Within six hours, however, the move had collapsed. As thousands of citizens rushed to the parliament building some helping MPs scale its walls to reach the chamber 190 lawmakers voted unanimously to overturn the decree."

President Lee Jae Myung marked the anniversary of an attempt to impose martial law by insisting those responsible must face justice and that the fight to secure the country remains unfinished. Investigations and trials of participants are ongoing, and Lee said righteous unity requires accountability. In Seoul, several hundred supporters of ousted president Yoon Suk Yeol gathered near the national assembly defending his actions, while preparations continued for much larger pro-democracy celebrations. On 3 December 2024 Yoon declared martial law citing pro-North forces and alleged election fraud; the decree sought broad powers but collapsed within hours as citizens and lawmakers overturned it.

Read at www.theguardian.com