The main opposition Democratic Party and other small opposition parties submitted a joint motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday over his martial law declaration the previous night. Martial law lasted about six hours,

The daughter of assassinated president Park Chung-hee, she was elected president herself in 2013, but was impeached and removed from office in 2017. The country's military says activities at parliament and parties are banned, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.

Yoon Suk Yeol, the country’s leader, had said the nation was being held hostage by opposition parties he accused of antistate activities.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has accepted the resignation of Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun and nominated ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Choi Byung-hyuk, as new defence minister, Yonhap news reported on Thursday.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s surprise declaration of emergency martial law lasted only six hours. But it has plunged South Korea – a key Asian economy and U.S. ally – into a political crisis that could last much longer.

South Korean lawmakers began impeachment proceedings against President Yoon Suk Yeol after he briefly imposed martial law and then reversed course on that decision just hours later. Yoon claimed martial law was necessary to protect the country from "North Korea's communist forces" and to "eliminate anti-state elements.

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s stunning martial law declaration lasted just hours, but experts say it raised serious questions about his ability to govern for the remaining 2 1/2 years of his term

At his confirmation hearing three months ago, South Korea's defence minister Kim Yong-hyun rejected accusations from the opposition that he wanted to impose martial law. It was, the conservative hardliner said,