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"Except in cases of urgent need, government actions should be carried out in a way that is known to citizens," the Korean Bishops' Conference said in a December 4 statement following a surprise marital law declaration by Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol.
"Many are asking the president whether it was right to impose martial law in 2024, which was imposed only during the military regime, while there was neither a hostile invasion from outside nor a visible threat of war," said the Bishops’ Conference. "It is imperative that the president personally go before the people to explain what happened, sincerely apologize to the people and take responsibility for the process of imposing and lifting martial law. Our democracy was built at great sacrifice. The Catholic Church in Korea actively supports and stands in solidarity with the Korean people to protect our democracy."
Signing on to the bishops’ statement were members of a Korean ecumenical delegation that had met with Pope Francis on November 27, to ask for his prayers for peace on the Korean peninsula and to visit Pyongyang to peacefully mediate relations between the North and South Korea.
When the delegation was at the Vatican, it issued a statement saying, "We who profess our unity in Christ, especially those who experienced the tragedy of the Korean War, pray that the current tensions will not degenerate into a third world war and that a state of peace will be established on the Korean peninsula. May this important meeting become a springboard for peace and the unification of the Korean peninsula.”
Korea's Catholics
According to the CIA World Factbook, a 2021 estimate put the Christian population in South Korea at 21%. About 6% of the population are Catholics.
Yoon declared martial law, citing the opposition “Democratic Party's legislative dictatorship” and paralysis of state affairs, the Korea Herald reported. The president withdrew the declaration after members of parliament voted to demand its annulment.
Thousands of protesters marched on the Presidential Office in Seoul on the evening of December 4 (photo above), joining a push by the country's opposition to impeach the leader after his short-lived imposition of martial law.
World Youth Day is expected to be held in South Korea in 2027. One of the first international trips in Pope Francis' papacy was to South Korea, in 2014.
