Around 10pm on December 3rd Yoon Suk Yeol, the conservative president of South Korea, suddenly declared martial law: banning all political parties and severely curbing media freedom. Soldiers were deployed to the parliament building and riot police lined the roads.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s future is hanging in the balance after a chaotic night during which he dramatically declared martial law and then withdrew it just as suddenly, plunging the country into turmoil.

A conservative, Mr. Yoon won the presidency in 2022 by a slim margin, promising a more confrontational stance against North Korea. He quickly became unpopular and divisive at home.