Crypto markets claw back as South Korea reverses martial law

The cryptocurrency market has started to regain its footing again after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol reversed his declaration of martial law — less than six hours after imposing it. 

The declaration was lifted around 4:30 am local time during a Cabinet meeting, per local reports. Around 190 lawmakers in the country’s 300-member parliament voted to reject the martial law order. 

“I will accept National Assembly’s request and lift it,” Yoon said.

Under South Korean law, the government must lift martial law if the majority of parliament demands it in a vote.

Yoon’s sudden declaration on live television on Tuesday sent reverberations across the global stage, prompting a response from the White House that it was “seriously concerned about the developments we are seeing on the ground in the R.O.K.”

Yoon said he declared martial law in response to claimed “threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces” and to “eliminate anti-state elements.”

“This is an unavoidable measure to ensure the freedom and safety of the people and guarantee the sustainability of the nation against the unrest stirred by these subversive, anti-state elements,” Yoon had said earlier.

The price of Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and XRP (XRP) and other cryptocurrencies dived after the emergency declaration but has since clawed back some losses, recovering 2.4%, 3.3% and 9.2%, respectively.

“We are relieved President Yoon has reversed course on his concerning declaration of martial law and respected the ROK National Assembly’s vote to end it,” a White House spokesperson said.

Related: South Korea’s Democratic Party agrees to delay crypto tax by 2 years

Only a day earlier, on Dec. 2, South Korea’s retail crypto trading volumes reached their second-highest level of the year, with traders in a frenzy over a series of “high momentum” altcoins. 

XRP witnessed over $6.3 billion in volume on the day in South Korea. Dogecoin (DOGE) came in second at $1.6 billion, followed by Stellar (XLM) at $1.3 billion, Ethereum Name Service (ENS) at $900 million and Hedera (HBAR) at $800 million.