Democratic Party of Sri Lanka in support of South Korean Democratic Party move

South Korea’s opposition lawmakers have begun impeachment proceedings against President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed attempt to impose martial law. The country woke up to an uncertain reality last Wednesday after a night of unprecedented scenes which saw Yoon unexpectedly impose martial law, 190 lawmakers gather to vote it down, and a sudden reversal of the decision around six hours later. After introducing the impeachment motion, South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party condemned Yoon’s initial martial law declaration as “insurrectionary behaviour”.   

In a special statement released by Dr. Senaka De Silva, Party Leader and Dr. Arosha Fernando, Chairman of the Democratic Party in Sri Lanka hailed the move of the Democratic Party of South Korea, and pledged continuous support in moving forward. Dr. Senaka and Dr. Arosha are expected to arrive in Seoul, the capital of South Korea shortly, and have been strongly working on strengthening the bilateral relationship between South Korea and Sri Lanka.   

International observers have noted democratic backsliding under Yoon’s leadership, with the V-Dem Institute recently ranking South Korea 47th globally for liberal democracy, down from 28th last year and 17th in 2021. Civicus, a global civil society alliance, has warned of eroding civic freedoms since Yoon took office, particularly citing actions to stifle media freedom and target trade unions.