South Korea faced an unprecedented constitutional crisis from Tuesday evening to the early hours of Wednesday, as President Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law in a late-night televised address. Yoon justified his decision as a necessary response to “anti-state factions” allegedly threatening the liberal constitutional order. The move marked the first invocation of martial law since 1979.

Following the declaration, martial law troops broke windows to access the National Assembly building, sparking physical altercations with parliamentary staff who tried to block their entry. General Park Ahn-soo, whom Yoon appointed to command martial law troops, declared that all political activities, including the operations of the National Assembly, local councils, political parties, political associations, gatherings and demonstrations, are prohibited.