What is Martial Law? South Korean Entertainment companies reported to cancel upcoming events and festivals amidst emergency announcement

On Tuesday, December 3, the president of South Korea, Yoon Seok-yul, declared an emergency martial law following the accusation of the opposing party with factors such as its crippling governance, sympathizing with North Korea, undermining South Korea's constitutional values, etc. This is also the first declaration of martial law for the nation since 1980.

According to the BBC, martial law is a temporary rule by the military due to an emergency, especially when civil authorities are considered unable to function.

The news naturally came as a shock to many and inevitably changed many functionalities and workings of South Korea. Therefore, the entertainment industry, especially artists from major South Korean Entertainment companies, is expected to cancel all events such as fan meetings, concerts, music show performances, etc. This also includes all year-end award shows and music festivals.

An insider from the industry commented on the reason behind the cancellation of events upon the declaration of martial law, which will start being effective from December 4. Here's what they said:

"We don't know what kind of trouble we will face if we hold events under martial law."

Another insider from the entertainment industry explained that the confusion regarding what and what not to conduct is because of the lack of predicament. Since the last martial law was declared in 1980, when the entertainment industry and its events weren't factors forty-four years ago, it gives people no blueprint on how the industry should respond to South Korea's martial law.

“We are monitoring the situation in real-time. This is a state of emergency.”

However, the martial law has now been lifted following the national assembly's resolution, where all 19 parties voted for it to be removed.

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All you need to know about South Korea's recent martial law declaration by President Yoon Suk-yul

On December 3, the President of South Korea Yoon Suk-yul declared martial law due to tensions with the opposition Democratic Party that controls the parliament. He accused the opposition of alleged pro-North Korean sympathies, explaining that the declaration of martial law was to protect South Korea's constitution while also countering the alleged forces against the state.

"I declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free constitutional order."

The declaration was also an escalation following weeks of tension with the opposing party. As they discussed the budget for the coming year, the opposition lawmakers slashed 4.1 trillion won from the president's original budget proposal of 677.4 trillion won. This was further fueled when opposition leaders submitted impeachment motions against several top the nation's government officials.

"Our National Assembly has become a haven for criminals, a den of legistative dictatorship that sees to paralyze the judicial and administrative systems and overturn our liberal democratic order."

This was called out by Yoon Seok-yul as an attempt to restrict or paralyze the governance. Therefore, when he made the declaration through a televised speech, he mentioned that martial law was inevitable while simultaneously accusing the opposition of pushing the nation into a moment of chaos. He also criticized their budgets for critical topics such as public safety and drug enforcement.

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Therefore, martial law led to the immediate suspension of events such as political gatherings, media operations, etc., which is expected to return to its normality.