South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s reliance on anti-North Korea rhetoric as a political strategy reached a dramatic peak with his brief declaration of martial law, but the move’s swift collapse highlights the diminishing effectiveness of his long-standing strategy.
In a televised address to the nation late on Tuesday night, Yoon declared a state of emergency martial law to “eradicate anti-state forces” that he claimed were plunging South Korea’s liberal democratic system into “a pit of despair.”