South Korea has another coup. What does the 50% drop in the price of Upbit Bitcoin mean?

Source: C Labs Crypto Observation

The whole story is as follows:

South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol suddenly declared a state of martial law across the country, and emphasized in a televised speech that the move was aimed at "protecting a free South Korea, resisting the threat of North Korean (North Korean) communist forces, and eliminating anti-national forces from the North (pro-North Korea)."

The full text of the martial law order is as follows:

1. All political activities, including the National Assembly, local councils and political parties, political organizations, assemblies and demonstrations are prohibited;

2. All acts that deny or attempt to overthrow the free democratic system are prohibited, and fake news, public opinion manipulation and false propaganda are prohibited;

3. All media and publications must be subject to the control of the martial law command;

4. Strikes, work stoppages and assemblies that incite social unrest are prohibited;

5. All medical personnel who are on strike or leaving the medical field, including trainee doctors, must return to work within 48 hours and be loyal to their duties. Anyone who violates this will be punished in accordance with the martial law law;

6. Except for anti-state forces and other subversive forces, the daily lives of innocent ordinary citizens may be subject to the minimum inconvenience caused by the relevant measures.

You know, the last time South Korea issued martial law was when President Park Chung-hee was assassinated in 1979.

After the martial law was issued, it was very exciting:

First, Chun Doo-hwan, as a major general at the time, launched the 1212 coup that year and killed other military leaders to gain military power.

Then the democratic figures undercurrent surged, and finally triggered the Gwangju incident in 1980, when the army massacred protesting citizens.

Then, within a year of issuing martial law, Chun Doo-hwan forced the acting president to resign and became the president of South Korea himself~

However, the martial law order personally issued by the South Korean president this time did not last so long:

The South Korean National Assembly held an emergency plenary meeting in the early morning of the 4th and voted on "lifting the martial law order". 190 members attended the meeting and voted in favor. South Korean National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik then declared the emergency martial law order invalid.

It is said that the army also obeyed the president's order at the beginning of this martial law order and wanted to occupy the National Assembly.

However, due to obstruction by citizens, the army was forced to withdraw from the Congress under pressure.

It seems that Yoon Seok-yeol is going to be in trouble~

This coup has really screwed the users of South Korean crypto exchanges. The price of Bitcoin on South Korea's largest local exchange "Upbit" plummeted by 50%, once falling to more than 60,000 US dollars:

At the same time, the prices of mainstream offshore exchanges around the world have hardly fluctuated and have remained above 90,000:

This incident once again shows that encryption still needs to be decentralized.

Speaking of the reasons for the martial law in South Korea, the BBC said:

Yun Seok-yeol has been facing difficulties in governing since he took office in 2022. He is in a minority position in Congress and cannot promote policies. Instead, he has repeatedly vetoed bills led by the opposition.

Recently, the opposition has cut the budget proposed by the government and promoted an impeachment investigation of its cabinet members, including a special investigation into the alleged corruption of Yoon Seok-yeol's wife.

Analysts believe that martial law is Yoon Seok-yeol's "nuclear option" in the face of a political crisis.