So some fun facts:

• 1st time since South Korea became a democracy that martial law has been declared. Last time was when their dictator was assassinated in 1980.
• it is the 17th time that martial law has been declared since South Korea was formed in 1948. Interesting that number surfaced again, isn't it?
• the ruling cited the following:

1. All political activities, including activities of the National Assembly, local councils, political parties, and political association, rallies and demonstrations, are prohibited.
2. All acts that deny or attempt to overthrow the free democratic system are prohibited. The dissemination of fake news, manipulation of public opinion, and false propaganda are prohibited.
3. All media and publications are subject to the control of Martial Law Command.
4. Strikes, work stoppages and rallies that incite social chaos are prohibited.
5. Trainee doctors and all other medical personnel, who are on strike or have left their worksites, must return to their positions within 48 hours and work faithfully. Those who violate the order will face punishment in accordance with the Martial Law Act.
6. Innocent ordinary citizens, excluding anti-state forces and other subversive forces, will be subject to measures to minimize inconvenience in their daily lives.

• the declaration has been voted down by over half the National assembly (190-0 of 300, odd total given it's 300, but I guess the rest didn't go to vote because, well, didn't want to be arrested). This makes it an odd quandary as the assembly can overrule martial law, so it seems the ruling is already DOA.

Some background - policies, scandals, and actions taken by the president:

• economic deregulation and measures such as abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. Has been called premature
• hawkish toward North Korea and friendlier to Japan than that of previous South Korean presidents. Given they were a Japanese colony from 1910 to 1945, this has ruffled a lot of feathers.
• proposed the creation of a "police bureau", in order to ensure greater government oversight of the police force. Police rebelled against this claiming it made them less neutral.
• sued four senior executives of local broadcaster Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation, including MBC TV head Park Sung-je, on grounds of defamation after news outlets initially reported that he insulted the US Congress
• enrollment quota for medical students would be increased from 3,058 to 5,058 students per academic year from 2025 onward. This was met with backlash from the medical community
• reduced South Korea's research and development (R&D) budget by 15% for 2024 compared to the previous year, caused significant uproar among researchers.
• accused of covering up for senior military officials over the deaths of one South Korean marine in 2023 and two more soldiers in 2024 by blocking bills seeking to investigate the matter.
• vetoed a special presecutor bill on investigating allegations of corruption related to himself and his wife Kim Keon-hee. He has received criticism for this
• has been described as "South Korea's Donald Trump".

Personal thoughts:

• the "corruption" seems more tied to his wife than him, and it seems to be in many ways mitigated. Girl got scammed at least once financially
• the media hates him, and usually the media is the enemy these days
• he's definitely anti communist, so that's a plus
• seems to want to do right by his country, but is stopped by institutions at every turn. Sound familiar?

Overall, I'm not clear enough on the background in the region, but with comparisons to Trump, and the fact of that 17 reappearing over the martial law declaration, it begs attention.