Source: Jin10 Data

On Tuesday night, South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol suddenly delivered a televised address, announcing the implementation of "emergency martial law." Yoon listed several reasons, stating that the opposition party was manipulating the National Assembly and disrupting the country, pledging to eliminate "anti-national forces" within South Korea. Specific measures of the martial law are currently unknown.

External analysis suggests that the recent push by South Korea's opposition party for a series of legislation targeting the president's wife and the impeachment of public officials such as prosecutors may have triggered Yoon's announcement of "emergency martial law."

According to Yonhap News Agency, the leader of the ruling party in South Korea, Han Dong-hoon, opposes the president's implementation of the martial law, stating that declaring martial law is a mistake and vowing to prevent this action.

The leader of South Korea's largest opposition party, Lee Jae-myung, stated that Yoon Suk-yeol's announcement of the martial law is unconstitutional. He said that the parliament will attempt to revoke the martial law, but the military may try to arrest National Assembly members.

Yonhap News Agency reported that after the president announced martial law, the roads leading to the South Korean National Assembly were blocked, preventing lawmakers from entering. There were conflicts in front of the South Korean National Assembly, where crowds trying to enter were facing off against the police.

The South Korean Ministry of National Defense will hold a meeting of major commanders. The South Korean Minister of Finance will convene a meeting of senior economic officials at 11:40 PM Korean Standard Time (10:40 PM Beijing Time). South Korean central bank officials stated that adequate measures will be prepared to stabilize the market if necessary, and information will be released after the meeting.

After the implementation of martial law in south korea, the won further depreciated against the dollar, reaching its lowest level since October 2022, with an intraday decline of 1.9%. Safe-haven assets rose across the board, with the dollar dropping below 149 yen, marking a new low for October. Spot gold surged briefly, standing at $2,650 per ounce. There was a sudden influx of bids for U.S. bonds, and the yields on 5-year, 10-year, and 30-year Treasuries fell.

On Monday, due to severe divisions between the ruling and opposition parties, the speaker of the national assembly of south korea announced the suspension of the budget proposal for next year, urging all parties to reach an agreement before the 10th of this month.

Previously, the largest opposition party, the Democratic Party of korea, passed a budget cut bill alone on November 29 in the budget and settlement committee of the national assembly. South Korean media reported that this was the first time in the history of south korea's constitutional governance.

The budget scale passed by the Democratic Party of korea was 673.3 trillion won (0.01 million won is approximately 51.8 yuan), which is a reduction of 4.1 trillion won from the government's initial proposal. The cuts involved: special activity funds for the president's office and the national security office, specific work expenses and special activity funds for the prosecution and the oversight agency, and police special activity funds totaling 76.1 billion won.

The South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo reported that this move has escalated political tension in south korea. Yoon Suk-yeol accused the Democratic Party of korea of using the budget as a tool for political struggle, completely ignoring the lives of the people and relying solely on impeachment, special investigations, and protecting opponents from judicial sanctions, which has paralyzed national governance. He stated that all major budgets related to core national functions, the fight against drug crimes, and maintaining public safety were fully cut, severely damaging the basic functions of the state and turning south korea into a drug paradise in a state of public safety crisis.

Lee Jae-myung defended the budget cuts, claiming that they were meant to reduce wasteful spending. Officials from the Democratic Party of korea stated that they aimed to protect taxpayers from what they termed as the misuse of funds by powerful institutions like the National Prosecution Service.

The South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo quoted Lee Jun-han, a professor of political science at Incheon University in south korea, saying, "The reduction of special activity funds has reasons related to the prosecutor's office and the oversight agency, but the way the Democratic Party of korea handled the budget bill is likely to be seen as having the intention to 'rescue Lee Jae-myung'." He noted that since the administration of Moon Jae-in, the confrontation between the Democratic Party of korea and the prosecution has pushed "south korean politics to the extreme."

Lee Jae-myung is planning to appeal against a court ruling made last month. On November 15, local time, the Seoul Central District Court of south korea conducted a first trial concerning Lee Jae-myung's alleged violation of the Public Official Election Act, sentencing him to one year in prison with a two-year suspended sentence. If the final ruling maintains this verdict, Lee Jae-myung will immediately lose his eligibility to be a member of parliament and will not be able to participate in the presidential election.

Lee Jae-myung is considered one of the most formidable challengers for the next presidency of south korea within the current opposition. Therefore, the verdict in the Lee Jae-myung case will have a significant impact on the landscape of the upcoming presidential election in south korea. Yoon Suk-yeol's term will end in 2027.

Editor / jayden