How Six Hours of Martial Law Reshaped a Stunned South Korea

  • President Yoon faces impeachment after failed power grab
  • Chaos shakes faith in key US ally just as Trump returns
Protesters outside the National Assembly in Seoul on Dec. 4.Photographer: Woohae Cho/Bloomberg
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Just before 10 p.m. on a near-freezing evening in Seoul, rumors began circulating among reporters that South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol planned a late-night announcement.

Yet when journalists showed up at the presidential briefing room, they found themselves locked out. On the other side of the door, hunched over a podium wearing a navy blue suit with a red tie, Yoon shocked the nation and the world by declaring martial law for the first time since South Korea became a democracy nearly four decades ago.