대한민국 헌정사의 가장 긴 밤
The longest night in South Korea's constitutional history
In an unscheduled late-night televised address, President Yoon Suk-yeol appears before the nation. Speaking from the presidential office, he accuses opposition lawmakers of sympathizing with North Korea and obstructing government functions through "legislative tyranny."
— Presidential Office broadcastPresident Yoon formally invokes Article 77 of the Constitution, declaring "emergency martial law" across the Republic of Korea. Political activities are banned, media placed under government control, and military authority supersedes civilian governance. It is the first declaration of martial law since 1980.
— Article 77, Constitution of the Republic of KoreaSpecial forces personnel arrive at the National Assembly compound. Soldiers attempt to seal the building and prevent lawmakers from entering. Helicopters are reported landing on the Assembly grounds. Citizens begin gathering at the gates in spontaneous protest.
— Multiple news agenciesAided by staff and citizens who physically held open the gates, opposition and some ruling-party lawmakers climb over fences and force their way past soldiers into the plenary hall. Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik calls an emergency session despite military attempts to block entry.
— National Assembly proceedingsUnder Article 77, Paragraph 5 of the Constitution, the National Assembly holds the power to demand the lifting of martial law by majority vote. As soldiers stood watch inside the building, 190 lawmakers — from both the opposition and the ruling party — assembled in the plenary chamber.
The scene inside the Assembly was extraordinary: elected representatives who had physically fought their way past armed troops now stood at their desks, many still in casual clothing, having rushed from their homes in the middle of the night. The chamber, usually a theater of partisan debate, was united in a singular constitutional purpose.
Speaker Woo Won-shik presided over the emergency session. The motion to demand the lifting of martial law was put to a vote. It required 150 votes — a simple majority of the 300-seat Assembly. What followed was swift and decisive.
At on December 5, the vote was counted: 190 to 0. Every lawmaker present voted unanimously to demand the lifting of martial law. The constitutional mechanism had functioned exactly as designed — a democratic safeguard written decades earlier, now activated for the first time against a sitting president's attempt to seize extraordinary power.
Faced with the Assembly's unambiguous demand, President Yoon had no constitutional recourse. Article 77 is explicit: the President shall comply. At , approximately six hours after its declaration, martial law was officially lifted. The military units withdrew from the National Assembly grounds.
What had begun as a constitutional crisis — the most severe test of South Korean democracy since the democratization movement of the 1980s — had been resolved through the very constitutional framework it sought to override. The night of December 4, 2024, became not a story of democratic collapse, but of democratic resilience.
"The Constitution is not a mere document — it is the living will of the people, and tonight the people's representatives proved its power."— Constitutional scholar, December 5, 2024
In the days that followed, South Korea's political landscape was irrevocably transformed. Impeachment proceedings against President Yoon were initiated almost immediately. The ruling People Power Party fractured, with many members who had voted against martial law distancing themselves from the president.
Internationally, the events drew comparisons to other moments when democratic institutions were tested and held — from the Watergate crisis to the failed coup attempts in Turkey and Spain. Analysts noted that South Korea's constitution, drafted in the aftermath of authoritarian rule, had been specifically designed to prevent the concentration of power — and on this night, that design proved its worth.
"190 대 0. 그 숫자가 모든 것을 말해준다."— "190 to 0. That number says everything."
For the citizens who gathered at the Assembly gates that night — who held open the doors, who livestreamed the proceedings, who stood in the December cold bearing witness — the memory of December 4 became a touchstone. A reminder that democracy is not merely a system of governance, but an act of collective will, renewed in each moment of crisis.