Not only politicians are outraged by Yun’s actions.
Yang Sonsil, 50, owns a seafood shop at Namdaemun Market in the South Korean capital of Seoul. She told the BBC she felt fear and disbelief when martial law was declared.
“I have lost all confidence in him (Yoon) as president, I don’t think he is my president anymore,” she said.
“We have to fight to the end, we can’t let him keep his position as president.”
At the same market, there was a shopper, Han Jeongmo, who said Yoon’s apology was not enough.
“He should either resign voluntarily or face impeachment if he doesn’t want to,” he said, adding that the president had violated the people’s trust.
“If he continues to insist on being president, it will be a very desperate situation, because I believe that for this president, this martial law is not the only crime that he has committed.”
South Korea was plunged into political turmoil late Tuesday night when Yoon made a shock declaration of martial law.
He cited threats from “anti-state forces” and North Korea. However, it soon became clear that his move was not prompted by external threats, but by his own domestic political problems.
Some lawmakers jumped over barricades and fences to get past security forces to gather in parliament and repeal Yun’s decree.
Yun rescinded the declaration six hours after lawmakers voted for it, but there were fears he would try to issue a second decree. Some lawmakers stayed outside the National Assembly to make sure they were there ready to nullify it.
Before his attempt to bring the country under military rule, Yun was beset by low popularity ratings, allegations of corruption and an opposition-led legislature that reduced him to a lame-duck leader.
