SEOUL, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's parliament voted on Wednesday to lift an emergency martial law declared Tuesday night by President Yoon Suk-yeol, TV footage showed.
The National Assembly held a plenary session, passing a resolution to lift the martial law with 18 lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party and 172 lawmakers of opposition parties in attendance and voting in favor.
By constitution, the president should lift the martial law decree when the 300-member parliament demands the lifting with a majority of lawmakers voting in favor.
National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik said the president should immediately lift the martial law order according to the parliament's resolution approval, noting that the martial law declaration became invalid.
Woo confirmed that all martial law troops have left the parliamentary building.
Han Dong-hoon, leader of the People Power Party, expressed his great regret over the martial law declaration as a ruling party chair, saying the unconstitutional, illegal declaration lost its effect after the parliamentary decision.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, said the declaration was illegal and unconstitutional as it failed to meet the requirements under the constitution and the martial law, urging the police and the military to return to their normal job as following the illegal, unconstitutional order of the president itself is illegal.
Yoon declared the emergency martial law in a televised emergency address on Tuesday night, saying "I declare an emergency martial law" to eradicate anti-state forces and uphold free constitutional order.
It marked the first martial law declaration since the country's military dictatorship ended in the late 1980s.
He noted that it was an inevitable step to ensure people's freedom, safety and national sustainability from the anti-state forces seeking to overthrow the country, vowing to eliminate the anti-state forces and normalize the country as soon as possible.
Yoon criticized the parliament for paralyzing state affairs by attempting to impeach government officials, launch a special prosecutor's team for investigation into scandals involving the first lady and protect the opposition leader from legal risks.
The president said the martial law declaration may cause inconvenience to people who followed constitutional values, adding that he will make efforts to minimize the inconvenience.
Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who reportedly proposed the martial law declaration to Yoon, ordered a meeting of key commanders, urging the military to strengthen vigilance.
The martial law command issued its first decree to ban all political activities relevant to the parliament, local councils and political parties as well as political gatherings and rallies.
It prohibited fake news, public opinion manipulation and false incitement, saying that all media and publishers will be controlled by the martial law command.
Any strike, go-slow and assembly that promote social unrest were prohibited, while all medical personnel who had been on strike or left the medical field, such as resident doctors, were ordered to return to their jobs within 48 hours.
Violators of the decree will be arrested, detained and seized without a warrant and be punished under martial law, the command noted. ■
