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South Korea’s largest labor union has declared an indefinite general strike.
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The call went out to its 1.1 million members after the president of South Korea declared martial law.
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It was said that the strike would last until the president resigned.
South Korea’s largest labor union launched an indefinite general strike late on Tuesday, calling on the country’s embattled president to resign after declaring martial law.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions appealed to its 1.1 million members in a Facebook post, saying the strike would begin at 9 a.m. local time on Wednesday and last until the president’s “regime” lifted martial law and the president resigned.
President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on Tuesday, but revoked the decree six hours later. It was a stunning move that plunged the Asian country into political and economic disarray.
The decree, which suspended the functions of the civilian government and imposed temporary military control, was the first declaration of martial law in South Korea since the country’s democratization in 1987.
Yoon justified the move in a televised speech on Tuesday, saying it was necessary to counter North Korea and “anti-state forces” while also criticizing the country’s opposition politicians.
In the aftermath, the South Korean won fell to its lowest level since October 2022, but losses were pared in Asian hours.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions described Yoon’s declaration of martial law as “anti-democratic” and one that “the people of South Korea will not forgive.”
Andrew Minjun Park, a 27-year-old student at Seoul National University who joined the protests on Tuesday evening, told BI that the president had “crossed the line” when he involved the military.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s former foreign minister Kang Kyung-hwa told CNN that the president’s decision and the way it was handled was “completely unacceptable” and an “aberration.”
According to Yonhap news agency, ten senior Yoon employees, including his chief of staff, offered to resign on Wednesday.
Calls for the president’s resignation are growing. All six opposition parties filed a motion to oust Yoon on Wednesday, with plans to vote on it on Friday or Saturday.
Removing him from office would require a two-thirds majority in parliament and at least six judges of the nine-member Constitutional Court, according to the Associated Press.
Yoon has been called a “lame-duck president” because he holds the country’s highest position without a majority in the legislature.
Robert E. Kelly, a political science professor at Pusan National University, told India’s WION news on Wednesday that Yoon’s “approval rating is below 20%, so he doesn’t have strong public support to keep him in office to fix this.” to come up.”
“If he decides to stay, he will almost certainly be impeached,” Kelly added.
Read the original article on Business Insider
