The 2024 self-coup in South Korea: democracy challenged and saved

Abstract

South Korea's 2024 Martial Law Crisis marked the country’s gravest democratic crisis since democratisation. President Yoon’s declaration of martial law and mobilisation of military troops amounted to a self-coup, which exposed the ways partisan security networks and polarised elites can undermine even well-institutionalised democracies. Years of democratic backsliding culminated in this crisis, for which long-standing polarisation and Yoon's politicisation of the security sector set the stage. Short-term triggers included probes targeting the first lady, election fraud conspiracy theories, and pressure after the opposition's 2024 landslide victory. On 3 December 2024 elite military units were mobilised to occupy key institutions. Martial law was lifted after six hours, but the crisis continued: while Yoon was detained and awaiting the result of the impeachment procedure, pro-Yoon and anti-Yoon forces clashed in the streets. International responses were muted: the US expressed confidence in Korea's democratic institutions but avoided direct criticism, Japan issued cautious statements, the EU voiced concern over democratic backsliding, and China restrained itself despite rising anti-Beijing rhetoric. While the Constitutional Court confirmed Yoon's impeachment on 4 April 2025, the crisis revealed both the resilience and vulnerability of South Korean democracy: institutional pushback blocked the self-coup, but polarisation and partisan networks in the security sector could lead to further erosion of democracy.