The South Korean president’s decision to declare Martial Law across the country is a “frankly bizarre” political move, John Nilsson-Wright, head of the Japan and Koreas Program at the University of Cambridge, told CNN this Tuesday (3).
“It’s, frankly, bizarre that this is happening and that the president is willing to do this,” he told Becky Anderson of CNN from Seoul. “I don’t think this will convince anyone. It so clearly seems like a political movement.”
President Yoon Suk Yeol has recently responded to efforts by the country’s Democratic Party, which has called for the impeachment of several prosecutors, Nilsson-Wright said.
“It’s not uncommon for this kind of back and forth to happen, but for him to escalate like this is really, frankly, bizarre,” continued Nilsson-Wright.
People in Seoul seem “confused” by what the president’s announcement means, the academic said.
“We’re not seeing any signs of what you would associate with martial law, in terms of restricting people’s ability to move around, mobilizing the army or police, but there’s no doubt that this is really unprecedented,” he continued.
“I would say at this point, all we can say is that this is a huge overreaction by the president, to say the least. What he is trying to do by going after the opposition in these unqualified ways – calling them effectively aligned with North Korea – is, as I said, unprecedented,” he added.
This content was originally published in Martial Law Decree in South Korea is “bizarre”, says expert on the website CNN Brasil.
Source: CNN Brasil
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