By UCA News reporter
SOUTH KOREA —Catholic Church officials in South Korea have joined several other religious groups in denouncing President Yoon Suk Yeol’s now-retracted martial law order, which the country’s lawmakers thwarted.
In a statement on Dec 4, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea (CBCK) denounced Yoon’s imposition of martial law on Dec 3 and urged him to apologize to the people.
Yoon must appear “before the people to explain what happened, sincerely apologize to the people, and take responsibility for the process of declaring and lifting martial law,” Bishop Mathias Ri Iong-hoon of Suwon said.
Mathias pointed out that South Korea’s “democracy has been built with great sacrifice” while adding that the Catholic Church “actively supports and stands in solidarity with the defense of our democracy.”
“We strongly urge President Yoon and the government to respond sincerely to the demands of the Korean Catholic Church and the Korean people,” Mathias added.
Yoon declared emergency martial law, citing the opposition “Democratic Party’s legislative dictatorship,” and paralysis of state affairs, the Korea Herald reported.
Yoon’s unprecedented declaration followed an announcement from General Park An-soo, the martial law commander.
Park’s announcement included prohibitions on all political activities, “including those of the National Assembly, local councils, political parties, and political associations, as well as assemblies demonstrations,” Al Jazeera reported.0
Yoon withdrew the emergency declaration after parliament members voted to demand the removal of the martial law.
Several other religious groups also condemned Yoon’s move, stating that it was against the democratic principles on which South Korea was founded.
Bishop Kim Chung-suk, president of the Korea Methodist Church, expressed shock at the sudden martial law declaration and called Yoon’s move “an affront to democracy.”
“The martial law is a betrayal of the trust people have given to the government. And it is unconstitutional, befitting a dictatorship,” Kim added in his statement.
In a statement, the Korean Church Human Rights Center said the martial law order was “undemocratic” and Christians “will topple the Yoon government should it continue not to heed the voice of the people.”
The center, which grew out of the National Council of Churches in Korea in September, is one of Korea’s four largest Christian groups.
Christian organization Bible Korea and Nehemiah, a Christian research center, also condemned the martial law declaration, the Logosian reported.
“He should rescind his unconstitutional declaration of emergency martial law now and apologize to the people,” Bible Korea said.
“The time has come for to step down,” Nehemiah said in its post on social media.
In similar statements, some Buddhist groups also said Yoon has “overthrown the constitutional order,” the Hankyorehreported.
The Buddhist groups pointed out that Yoon has “legally created grounds for impeachment” through his actions.
Opposition parties have submitted an impeachment motion against Yoon to remove him amidst offers from top brass to resign en masse. – UCA News
