Candle-lit vigils and rallies were held across South Korea on Wednesday, a nation outraged and frustrated by the president’s surprise declaration of martial law the night before called for his resignation.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s surprise declaration of emergency martial law lasted only six hours. But it has plunged South Korea – a key Asian economy and U.S. ally – into a political crisis that could last much longer.

South Korean lawmakers began impeachment proceedings against President Yoon Suk Yeol after he briefly imposed martial law and then reversed course on that decision just hours later. Yoon claimed martial law was necessary to protect the country from "North Korea's communist forces" and to "eliminate anti-state elements.

At his confirmation hearing three months ago, South Korea's defence minister Kim Yong-hyun rejected accusations from the opposition that he wanted to impose martial law. It was, the conservative hardliner said,

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol shocked the nation in a televised address, declaring martial law and calling in troops to secure the National Assembly building where parliament sits