The cryptocurrency market regained some ground as President Yoon Seok-yeol overturned the martial law declaration less than six hours later.
According to local reports, the declaration was lifted during a cabinet meeting around 4:30 a.m. local time. About 190 of the 300 members of parliament voted to reject martial law.
The Washington Post (WP) reported that Rep. Yoon said, “I will accept the National Assembly’s request and lift it.”
According to Korean law, the government must lift martial law if it is requested by a majority vote in the National Assembly.
Martial law forces are entering the main building of the National Assembly. pic.twitter.com/tYm5nRcjfH
— 𝙾 Light. December 3, 2024
Secretary-General Yoon’s sudden declaration on live TV resonated around the world, prompting a response from the White House saying, “We are seriously concerned about the developments we are seeing in Korea.”
Prosecutor General Yoon said he declared martial law to “remove the threat from North Korean communist forces” and “eliminate anti-state forces.”
Rep. Yoon previously said, “This measure is an inevitable measure to guarantee the freedom and safety of the people and the sustainability of the country against the anxiety triggered by anti-state and subversive forces.”
Prices of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), XRP (XRP) and other cryptocurrencies plunged after the emergency declaration, but have since recovered losses by 2.4%, 3.3% and 9.2%, respectively, according to CoinMarketCap.
A White House spokesperson told CNN, “We are relieved that President Yoon has reversed his position regarding the declaration of martial law and respected the South Korean National Assembly’s vote to end martial law.”
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Just a day ago, on December 2, South Korea’s retail cryptocurrency trading volume reached its second highest level of the year, with traders going crazy over a series of “high momentum” altcoins.
XRP recorded a trading volume of more than $6.3 billion in Korea on this day. In second place was Dogecoin (DOGE) with $1.6 billion, Stellar (XLM) with $1.3 billion, Ethereum Name Service (ENS) with $900 million, and Hedera (HBAR) with $800 million.