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Just hours after declaring martial law in a surprise late-night TV address on Tuesday (Dec 3), South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol abandoned the attempt as lawmakers voted against his declaration and thousands of protesters took to the streets.
His shock attempt to impose South Korea’s first martial law in over four decades caught nearly everyone by surprise, including politicians and South Korea’s closest allies around the world.
Earlier, Yoon said opposition parties had taken the parliamentary process hostage, adding that there was a need to “safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces”.
However, he did not give details of the North’s threats.
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