"President, Immediately Lift Martial Law"…Ruling and Opposition Parties Unite in Pressuring Yoon (Comprehensive)

Opposition: "If Martial Law Is Lifted but Not Declared, It Will Be an Unfortunate Situation"
Han Dong-hoon: "We Must Respect the Will of the People and the National Assembly and Lift It"

On the 4th, the National Assembly and political circles demanded that President Yoon Seok-yeol immediately lift the martial law. Since the National Assembly has passed a resolution to lift the martial law, they insisted that the Constitution and related laws must be followed.

Woo Won-sik, Speaker of the National Assembly, demanded the lifting of martial law during the plenary session held that day, stating, "When martial law is promulgated and declared by the president, the termination and enforcement must be notified, and when it is declared, the National Assembly must be notified." He added, "Martial law was declared without notification, and this procedure (adopting a resolution to lift martial law without notification) was followed." He emphasized, "When the National Assembly demands the lifting of martial law, it must be lifted immediately and announced."

Woo Won-sik, Speaker of the National Assembly, is striking the gavel at the plenary session held at the National Assembly on the 2nd. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

After confirming that the notification was sent, he said, "I have just sent a notification to the president and the Minister of National Defense to lift martial law," and added, "Since it was sent, according to Article 11 of the Martial Law Act, when the National Assembly demands the lifting of martial law, it must be lifted immediately and announced."

Han Dong-hoon, leader of the People Power Party, also stated through his social media on the same day, "I urge the president to respect the will of the people and the National Assembly and immediately declare the lifting of martial law in accordance with the Constitution."

Handonghun, the leader of the People Power Party, is giving a statement in the National Assembly early morning on the 4th after the resolution demanding the lifting of martial law was passed. President Yoon Seok-yeol declared martial law in an emergency statement on the night of the 3rd. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

Han added, "Nothing is more important than the lives and safety of the people."

Cho Seung-rae, chief spokesperson of the Democratic Party of Korea, said at a meeting with reporters, "First of all, it is most important that martial law is effectively declared null by the president," adding, "What is worrisome is that it is not declared even though it has become null." He continued, "I hope that does not happen," and said, "If it does, a truly unfortunate situation will occur." Cho reiterated, "I sternly warn that martial law has been lifted by the National Assembly."

Article 77, Paragraph 5 of the Constitution states, "When the National Assembly demands the lifting of martial law with the approval of the majority of the total members, the president shall lift it." Earlier that day, the National Assembly held a plenary session and passed a resolution demanding the lifting of martial law unanimously with 190 members present.