South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s reliance on anti-North Korea rhetoric as a political strategy reached a dramatic peak with his brief declaration of martial law, but the move’s swift collapse highlights the diminishing effectiveness of his long-standing strategy. 

In a televised address to the nation late on Tuesday night, Yoon declared a state of emergency martial law to “eradicate anti-state forces” that he claimed were plunging South Korea’s liberal democratic system into “a pit of despair.”

“I hereby declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to root out the