By Anadolu staff
ANKARA(AA) – South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday evening declared martial law.
In the startling move, Yoon said in an unannounced late-night television address that the step was necessary to “protect the country from North Korea's communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements.”
He claimed that the decision was taken to remove pro-North Korea forces from the country while protecting the liberal constitutional order.
Yoon, who has been struggling to push his government agenda against an opposition-controlled parliament since taking office in 2022, said he had no choice but to declare martial law.
This decision came after the opposition Democratic Party pushed through a reduced budget bill in the parliamentary budget committee and filed impeachment motions against a state auditor and the chief prosecutor.