South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Tuesday evening he would move to lift a martial law declaration he had imposed just hours before, honoring a parliamentary vote against the measure.
The US and South Korean militaries said they are "in contact" after the martial law was declared, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
After his redaction, South Korea's cabinet ministers have expressed their intention to resign en masse to the prime minister, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported on Wednesday citing a source close to the ruling party.
Pentagon spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder told a news briefing he also did not believe the martial law declaration had any significant impact so far on the roughly 28,500 US troops deployed to South Korea.
Hours earlier, South Korea's president had declared martial law in an unannounced late-night address broadcast live on YTN television, claiming he would eradicate "shameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces."
South Korea's parliament, with 190 of its 300 members present, passed a motion requiring the martial law declared by President Yeol to be lifted, live TV showed.
When Yeol announced the martial law, he did not cite any specific threat from the nuclear-armed North, however, instead focusing on his domestic political opponents.
The surprise move sent shockwaves through the country, which had a series of authoritarian leaders early in its history but has been considered democratic since the 1980s. The Korean won was down sharply against the US dollar.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
'No choice'
Yoon said he had no choice but to resort to such a measure in order to safeguard free and constitutional order, saying opposition parties have taken hostage of the parliamentary process to throw the country into a crisis.
"I declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free constitutional order," Yoon said.
He did not say in the address what specific measures would be taken. Yonhap news agency reported that the entrance to the parliament building was blocked.
"Tanks, armored personnel carriers, and soldiers with guns and knives will rule the country," Lee Jae-myung, leader of the opposition Democratic Party, which has the majority in parliament, said in a livestream online. "The economy of the Republic of Korea will collapse irretrievably. My fellow citizens, please come to the National Assembly."
Yoon cited a motion by the country's opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament, this week to impeach some of the country's top prosecutors and its rejection of a government budget proposal.
South Korea's ministers on Monday protested the move by the opposition DP last week to slash more than 4 trillion won from the government's budget proposal. Yoon said that action undermines the essential functioning of government administration.
US follows with 'grave concern'
After Yoon reversed the decision, The White House said it was relieved that the South Korean President had reversed course over a martial law declaration in the country.
"Democracy is at the foundation of the U.S.-ROK alliance, and we will continue to monitor the situation," a spokesperson said, referring to South Korea by the initials of its official name, the Republic of Korea.
US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on Tuesday that the United States was watching events in its ally South Korea with "grave concern" and had every hope and expectation that any political disputes would be resolved peacefully and in accordance with the rule of law.
The United States was not given advance notice of President Yeol's declaration of martial law, and Washington is seriously concerned by the developments there, a White House spokesperson added shortly after.
President Joe Biden's administration is in contact with the South Korean government and is monitoring the situation closely, the spokesperson said.
US citizens in South Korea were later told to avoid areas where protests are taking place, the Embassy in Seoul said in a statement, after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeo declared martial law and then reversed course.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that he expects "political disagreements to be resolved peacefully" and within the rule of law.