South Korea’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has declared martial law in an unannounced late-night televised address, claiming he would eradicate “shameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces”.
It is the first time since 1980 that martial law was declared in South Korea.
The Yonhap news agency cited the military as saying activities by parliament and political parties would be banned, and that media and publishers would be under the control of the martial law command.
Yoon not cite any specific threat from the nuclear-armed North, instead focusing on his domestic political opponents.
The surprise move sent shock waves through the country, which had a series of authoritarian leaders early in its history but has been considered democratic since the 1980s. The Korean won was down sharply against the US dollar. A central bank official said it was preparing measures to stabilise the market if needed.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Some 28,500 US troops are stationed in South Korea to guard against the North. A spokesman for the US military command did not answer repeated phone calls.
Yoon said he had no choice but to resort to such a measure in order to safeguard free and constitutional order, claiming opposition parties had taken hostage of the parliamentary process to throw the country into a crisis.
“I declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free constitutional order,” Yoon said.
He did not say in the address what specific measures would be taken. Yonhap reported that the entrance to the parliament building was blocked.
The move drew immediate opposition from politicians, including the leader of his Yoon’s own conservative party, Han Dong-hoon, who called the decision “wrong” and vowed to “stop it with the people”.
Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the opposition Democratic party, which has a majority in parliament, said in a livestream online: “Tanks, armoured personnel carriers and soldiers with guns and knives will rule the country. The economy of the Republic of Korea will collapse irretrievably. My fellow citizens, please come to the National Assembly.”
Yoon cited a motion by the Democratic party this week to impeach some of the country’s top prosecutors and its rejection of a government budget proposal.
On Monday South Korea’s ministers criticised a Democratic party move last week to cut more than 4tn won (£2.2bn) from the government’s budget proposal. Yoon said that action undermined the essential functioning of government administration.