South Korea's Yoon moves to lift martial law after standoff with parliament

President had declared martial law to thwart opponents, marking South Korea's biggest political crisis in decades

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Wednesday he would move to lift a martial law declaration he had imposed just hours before, backing down in a standoff with parliament which rejected his attempt to ban political activity and censor the media.

Yoon declared martial law on Tuesday night to thwart "anti-state forces" among his opponents. But outraged lawmakers rejected the decree, in South Korea's biggest political crisis in decades. Yoon said a cabinet meeting would be held as soon as possible.

Protesters outside parliament shouted and clapped after Yoon backed down. “We won!” they chanted. One demonstrator banged on a drum.

Yoon's surprise declaration of martial law, which he cast as aimed at his political foes, was unanimously voted down by 190 lawmakers in the parliament. Under South Korean law, the president must immediately lift martial law if parliament demands it by a majority vote. His own party urged him to lift the decree.

The crisis in a country that has been a democracy since the 1980s, and is a US ally and major Asian economy, caused international alarm.

After Yoon's announcement of martial law in a late-night television address, the military said activities by parliament and political parties would be banned, and that media and publishers would be under the control of the martial law command.

Yoon did not cite any specific threat from the nuclear-armed North, instead focusing on his domestic political opponents. It is the first time since 1980 that martial law has been declared in South Korea.