Periodical #14
A Show of Democracy in South Korea
On December 4th, 2024, martial law was enacted by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, leaving behind many questions in the minds of not only the citizens of South Korea, but individuals all across the globe. Some have said Yoon enacted martial law in response to his growing unpopularity. His inability to pass legislation and his vetoing of a bill calling for an investigation into the illegal activities of his wife, Kim Keon-Hee, have made him a villian-esque figure of South Korean society. In the South Korean Constitution, the power to enact martial law is given to the president. However, the National Assembly has the right to overrule the enactment with a two-thirds majority. This is what the National Assembly did in under two-and-a-half hours. In an incredible show of democracy, 190 of the 300 members of the National Assembly gathered in the middle of the night in order to get a completely unanimous decision to overrule the martial law. Hopefully, countries everywhere can follow the example of the South Korean National Assembly and rally together to save the future of their nation.
If you would like to read more about the incident in South Korea, go to these links:
https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/penn-sas-south-korea-crisis-explained
https://www.npr.org/2024/12/07/g-s1-37286/south-korean-president-impeachment-vote-fails
Information retrieved from PennToday, AP News, and NPR.