'Yoon out now': Thousands rally to demand president step down over declaration of martial law

Opposition lawmakers and thousands of Koreans from all walks of life stage an emergency rally to demand President Yoon Suk Yeol's resignation at the National Assembly in Seoul, Wednesday at noon, after Yoon lifted the martial law declaration in the morning. Yonhap

Thousands of Koreans from all across the country gathered in Seoul, Wednesday, to speak out against President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived declaration of martial law and demand the impeachment of his administration.

The National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, which was blocked by police and military forces last night, turned into a stage of protest from people of all walks of lives.

“I lived through the time of May 18 and over my dead body will this country regress to see another dictatorship,” said Hong Sun-young, a 70-year-old restaurant owner in the neighborhood, referring to the Gwangju democratization movement of 1980.

After staying up all night following the development of the events, she and her husband did not hesitate to head to Yeouido this morning and join the emergency rally because they would “rather be shot than live under another authoritarian regime.”

Kim In-kyu, 35, traveled an hour on a KTX train with his wife and 4-year-old son from their hometown in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, to attend the emergency rally first thing in the morning.

“This is the moment of history and this is the country we are living in. These past hours have been devastating, but as a Korean citizen, I feel responsible to speak up for our hard-won democracy and show my son how it’s done,” he said.

An office worker surnamed Jeong, 29, also joined the event during a lunch break from Seoul's financial district even though she admitted to having been apathetic about politics all of her life.

“I never minded who becomes the president because they all looked the same. But how can a Korean declare martial law these days, after all that has happened in history? I don’t approve him (Yoon) as my president," she said.

Participants at the emergency rally protest against President Yoon Suk Yeol, holding banners that read "Yoon Suk Yeol Out" and "Immediately investigate treason, "at the National Assembly in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

According to the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), over 5,000 people joined the opposition parties’ emergency rally to denounce President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration.

“Yoon step down! Yoon step down!” people chanted, “Yoon under arrest! Yoon under arrest!”

“The country is going to chaos,” some people yelled. Others shouted, “Unbelievable,” “How on earth do we accept martial law in our time?”

"It has returned to such a primitive country where armed soldiers exercise their entire judicial and administrative powers," DPK Chairman Rep. Lee Jae-myung said. "Can you believe this reality that people use guns and swords armed with taxpayer money that has been shedding blood?"

He added, "President Yoon seems unable to make a normal and reasonable judgment. The end of incompetence, indifference and immorality is the people's livelihood crisis, economic crisis and security crisis, and the only thing to do is to be abandoned by the people."

Civic group members demand the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol's administration in Gwanghwamun Square, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Meanwhile, in Gwanghwamun Square, civic groups also gathered to denounce Yoon.

Korea's largest umbrella labor group, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), and other civic groups held a press conference claiming Yoon's martial law declaration the previous day was unconstitutional.

The KCTU vowed to go on an indefinite strike until Yoon steps down to take responsibility for declaring martial law.

Yoon declared martial law amid an intensifying standoff with the opposition-controlled National Assembly but lifted it six hours later after the Assembly voted to revoke it.

Candlelit protests are scheduled to take place in major cities across the country from late afternoon to demand Yoon’s resignation.

Korea last saw emergency martial law declared 45 years ago in 1979, upon the assassination of President Park Chung-hee.