As South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol shocked the world after sending heavily armed troops into Seoul's streets to declare martial law, lawmakers fought their way into the parliament to end the tense situation.
Lee Jae-myung, the leader of South Korea's opposition party, decided to climb the fence of the parliament to get inside and vote against the president's motion for martial law.
Jae-myung went live in YouTube and recorded himself climbing over the walls to reach the parliament after the president declared a state of emergency and accused the opposition of being 'anti-state forces intent on overthrowing the regime'.
In the video, the leader can be seen walking along the parliament's boundary wall and climbing over a metal fence to jump to the other side. Once he lands, he continues to keep walking while looking at the camera.
Take a look at the video here:
Jae-myung hit out at the president, calling his martial law 'illegal' and declaring that he is 'no longer the president' of South Korea. The opposition leader called on the public to gather at the National Assembly.
{{/usCountry}}Jae-myung hit out at the president, calling his martial law 'illegal' and declaring that he is 'no longer the president' of South Korea. The opposition leader called on the public to gather at the National Assembly.
{{/usCountry}}"The economy of the Republic of Korea will collapse irretrievably. My fellow citizens, please come to the National Assembly," he said.
Hours after the martial law was imposed, around 190 lawmakers managed to get into the assembly in the and unanimously voted in favour of a motion to block the martial law declaration and call for its lifting.
(Also read: Man asks South Korean coworker about martial law implementation, gets this reply)
“To safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces and to eliminate antistate elements, … I hereby declare emergency martial law. With no regard for the livelihoods of the people, the opposition party has paralysed governance solely for the sake of impeachments, special investigations and shielding their leader from justice,” President Yoon Suk Yeol had said while declaring martial law.