Martial law comes after rows over budget billposted at 2:31 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time

2:31 p.m. GMT

Jake Kwon
Reporting from Seoul

Yoon has been a lame-duck president since the last general election, when the opposition won a landslide victory in parliament.

He was unable to pass the laws he wanted, but was reduced to desperately vetoing every bill passed by the opposition.

Yoon is also mired in several scandals, mainly the one surrounding his wife, who was accused of corruption. She is also accused of influence peddling. The opposition tried to open a special investigation against her.

This week, the opposition slashed the budgets presented by the government and the ruling party – and the budget bill cannot be vetoed.

The same week, the opposition plans to dismiss cabinet members, mainly the head of the government audit agency, for failing to investigate the first lady.

Yoon opted for the nuclear option – he claims it is to restore order while “anti-state” forces are trying, according to him, to paralyze the country.