People Power Forced Martial Law Removal

On Tuesday, December 3, 2024 South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared an 'emergency martial law' accusing the Opposition of plotting an 'insurgency' and 'trying to overthrow the free democracy' in the country.

This declaration came amid rising political tensions in South Korea.

In the wee hours on Wednesday, Yoon's cabinet approved a motion to end martial law enforcement, approximately six hours after Yoon had declared it.

Glimpses of People Power!

IMAGE: A man confronts police officers outside the national assembly, December 3, 2024. Photograph: Kim Soo-hyeon/Reuters

IMAGE: Protests outside the national assembly. Photograph: Kim Soo-hyeon/Reuters

IMAGE: A woman lies on a road to block a vehicle transporting an army unit. Photograph: Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters

IMAGE: Soldiers outside the national assembly. Photograph: Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters

IMAGE: Furniture and boxes are piled up to barricade the entrance doors of the national assembly, which voted overwhelmingly to reject martial law. Photograph: Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters

IMAGE: Officials remove the furniture barricades from the doors of the national assembly building. Photograph: Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters

IMAGE: Police officers close the gate of the national assembly. Photograph: Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters

IMAGE: Protestors outside the national assembly. Photograph: Kim Soo-hyeon/Reuters

IMAGE: A woman holds a placard as police officers walk outside the national assembly. Photograph: Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters

IMAGE: Protestors gather outside the national assembly. Photograph: Kim Soo-hyeon/Reuters

IMAGE: People watch a television screen broadcasting a news report on President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law and the following announcement that he will lift martial law, after a parliamentary vote, at a railway station in Seoul. Photograph: Kim Soo-hyeon/Reuters