A placard with an image of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is placed among other placards at a rally calling for the impeachment of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who declared martial law, which was reversed hours later, in front of the headquarters of the ruling People Power Party, in Seoul, South Korea, December 10, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean state media KCNA on Wednesday reported for the first time on South Korea's ongoing political turmoil since President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law attempt.
Last week's shocking martial law order triggered concerns about a power vacuum and plunged Asia's fourth-largest economy and a key U.S. ally into a constitutional crisis, sending shockwaves through diplomatic and economic fronts.
After a week-long silence, KCNA published an article on what it described as growing "social unrest" in the South due to the martial law crisis.
The dispatch did not offer much commentary but largely carried South Korean and international media reports, focusing on a series of protests joined by more than a million people calling for Yoon's impeachment.
"The puppet Yoon Suk Yeol, who had already faced a serious crisis of governance and impeachment, declared martial law unexpectedly and unleashed the guns of the fascist dictatorship on the people," KCNA said.
"His insane act, reminiscent of the coup during the military dictatorship decades ago, has drawn strong condemnation from all walks of life, including the opposition party, and further exploded the public's fervour for impeachment."
(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin, Editing by Franklin Paul)
