SOUTH Korea’s president has declared martial law in the country to flush out “pro-North Korean” elements.
In a late-night emergency TV address, President Yoon Suk Yeol said the step was “critical for defending the country’s constitutional order”.
People watch a TV screen showing South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s televised briefingAP
GettySouth Korean protesters attend an anti-North Korea rally on[/caption]
ReutersNorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a meeting with Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov in Pyongyang, North Korea[/caption]
The country’s defence ministry announced that the military is now being mobilised on a “high level of readiness”.
And violent scenes have erupted outside the National Assembly building in Seoul.
The president accused the country’s opposition party of controlling the parliament, being pro-North Korea and paralysing the government with anti-state activities.
Yoon said in his surprise TV address: “I declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free constitutional order.”
South Korean opposition leader Lee said the parliament will try to nullify Yoon’s martial law but the military may try to arrest members of parliament.
Yoons conservative People Power Party had been locked in an impasse with the liberal opposition Democratic Party over next years budget bill.
He has also been dismissing calls for independent investigations into scandals involving his wife and top officials, drawing quick, strong rebukes from his political rivals.
The Democratic Party reportedly called an emergency meeting of its lawmakers following Yoon’s announcement.
South Korea and North Korea have been archenemies for decades.
In recent years, border tensions have soared between the two nations who are technically still at war as a peace treaty was never signed after the 1950-1953 Korean War.
Pyongyang has amended its constitution to declare South Korea a “hostile state”.
Dictator Kim Jong-un has pulled out of treaties, demolished unification monuments, and blown up road and railway links connecting the two nations, sparking military tensions.
A Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) was created to separate the two countries.
It is one of the most heavily mined places on Earth – strewn with landmines to deter enemy troops.
President Yoon Suk Yeol’s decision to impose martial law comes after North Korea branded him the “vicious main culprit” blaming him for the hostile situation between the two nations.
A picture was displayed at the centre of Pyongyang that showed Suk Yeol visiting a military unit.
The picture was captioned: “The venomous remarks of scoundrel Yoon Suk Yeol causing destruction.
“The vicious main culprit of the confrontation mentality against the Republic.”
The display also targeted South Korea’s alliance with the US, describing it as an “aggressive treaty”.
In recent months, tensions have also grown over balloons of trash floated from North Korea, which Pyongyang says are a response to balloons carrying anti-regime leaflets sent by activists in the South.
Earlier this year, South Korea fired warning shots at North Korean soldiers twice in one week after troops crossed the border.
Meanwhile, deranged dictator Kim has been laying more landmines, reinforcing roads and adding what looks like anti-tank barriers on the South’s doorstep.
Satellite images suggest the North is also building new defence lines right on the border – risking “escalation” and “bloodshed”, experts have warned.
And Kim has been intensifying weapons tests as the US, South Korea and Japan host a flurry of war games in the region.
In a brazen intimidation move, North Korea sent a wave of 260 filthy faeces-filled balloons to South Korea.
Speaking to The Sun, Michael Madden, director and founder of NK Leadership Watch, said a “serious escalation” on the Korean peninsula would be triggered by “several days of incidents near the border”.
These “incidents” – including shots being fired – would unfold “for a period of about five days to a week before a serious escalation in tensions”.
This could then spark a “strategic miscalculation which could incite a larger conflict”.
“There are a number of tripwires and forums before it would reach that point,” he added.
Armed with an arsenal of nukes and chemical weapons, experts have warned a war with tyrant Kim Jong-un could be one of the bloodiest in history.
GettyA South Korean protester spray paints on a North Korean flag during an anti-North Korea rally[/caption]
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