Politics
Why South Korea has been gripped by political instability
It was around 23:00 on a Tuesday night when – out of nowhere – South Korea’s president Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in the Asian democracy for the first time in nearly 50 years.
Explaining his decision, he mentioned “anti-state forces” and the threat from North Korea. But it soon became clear that it had not been spurred by external threats but by his own desperate political troubles.
The law was voted down just hours later – but it set in motion a string of events that have led to a state of political chaos in South Korea.