Last night around 10:30PM the President of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, declared martial law. This decree prohibited any political activities including the National Assembly, and suspended freedom of the press along with many other citizen rights. The South Korean military mobilized, with military vehicles in the street and nearly three hundred soldiers entering the National Assembly.
Tens of thousands of South Koreans took the streets throughout the night in protest of what was seen as a coup d’etat attempt by an unpopular President. Shortly before 1AM the National Assembly conveyed an emergency session and unanimously declared the martial law declaration illegal. By 4:30AM the President backed down and reversed the martial law declaration. Protests and strikes demanding the President’s resignation continued throughout the day as the National Assembly – including his own political party – moved to impeach the President.
The MCC Northeast Asia program is based out of Chuncheon, South Korea. We have colleagues and friends in South Korea, including Beth from Canada who was a SALT participant in Cambodia last year.
The morning after one colleague wrote that, “This is an interesting morning after a sleepless night. It turned out to be a failed ‘self-coup.’ I am glad he cannot adequately prepare for emergency martial law, which is the problem – he is insane and unstable. It was painful to watch 계엄군/ martial force move into the congress. For many Koreans, 계엄군/ martial force triggered the deep wounds of the Gwangju uprising and modern Korean history. We will face a challenging time of civil protest and restoring the democratic society.”
Keeping with the season of Advent, this colleague also shared Luke 1:51-52.
Luke 1:51-52
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
I’ve wrote about this before on the blog but I think we sometimes forget how powerful Mary’s prophetic voice is in Luke.
Today the National Council of Churches in Korea issued a statement condemning the declaration of marital law and calling for the President to be held accountable for his actions.
Please pray for the people of South Korea, for their courage, for their protection, and for their democratic freedoms. As we’ve seen in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Kenya, and many other places around the world recently this could have escalated to lethal violence against protesters. Please also pray for the MCC Northeast Asia, our SALT alumni from Canada Beth, and for all peacebuilders working in South Korea. As always, please pray that God’s spirit of peace and reconciliation would settle over the Korean peninsula and bring an end to the conflict between north and south. Thank you.
I lived in S Korea for a summer in 2009. The peoples freedom is very important. Many times, their gratitude for US presence was acknowledged. I will pray for a nonviolent solution.