Yoon Suk Yeol made a “wild gamble” in a bid to “dig himself out of a political impasse” – but will now likely face calls for his removal from power, a professor has said.
John Nilsson Wright, a senior lecturer in Japanese politics and international relations, said Yoon has made his situation “much, much more difficult if not impossible”.
“I suspect in short order there will be efforts to remove him from power,” he told Sky News.
South Koreans were “dumbfounded” when they first heard the news that martial law had been declared – and some thought it was a “hoax”, Mr Nilsson Wright said.
“Unfortunately, it’s all too real and we’ll have to see what happens next in terms of the National Assembly’s ability to take immediate action,” he said.
He described Yoon’s actions as a “major miscalculation”.