Taiwan ruling party retracts martial law comparison

ANKARA

Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) retracted its comparison between Taiwan's legislative situation and South Korea's martial law decision, local media reported on Wednesday.

In a Tuesday social media post, the DPP claimed that Taiwan’s legislature was facing a situation akin to the one that led South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to declare martial law in his country, according to Focus Taiwan.

The post was subsequently removed from social media platforms.

"South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced emergency martial law nationwide to protect the free constitutional system," the post read. It went on to accuse opposition parties in Taiwan of obstructing national security proposals, "unconstitutionally expanding" their powers, and cutting the defense budget.

However, the party later issued a new post, distancing itself from the martial law comparison.

On Wednesday, Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang, criticized the DPP for deleting the post and called on regional leader Lai Ching-te to apologize promptly and clarify his position.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's intelligence chief Tsai Ming-yen stated that South Korea's brief martial law was the result of "domestic political dispute" and noted that Taiwan was closely monitoring the situation.

National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai added that his agency was keeping Taiwan's regional leader Lai informed during his foreign visit and that Lai had instructed the agency to closely follow developments in South Korea.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid