South Korea's martial-law crisis and the removal of President Yoon
- Date
- 3 December 2024
- Category
- Politics & governance
- Region
- South Korea
- Era
- Contemporary
- Significance
South Korea was plunged into its gravest constitutional crisis in decades when President Yoon Suk Yeol abruptly declared martial law on the night of 3 December 2024, sending troops toward the National Assembly.
Lawmakers defied the order, forcing their way into the chamber to vote it down within hours, and the short-lived decree collapsed amid public outrage. The National Assembly impeached Yoon, and in 2025 the Constitutional Court upheld his removal from office, triggering a snap election won by Lee Jae-myung. The episode tested, and ultimately affirmed, the resilience of South Korea's democratic institutions, and stood as a warning of how fragile even a mature democracy can be.
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Further reading
The wider story
China: A History
Sweeping, readable single-volume narrative of China from its beginnings to today.
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