Citizens who blocked 2024 martial law crisis recommended for Nobel Peace Prize

▲ Citizens hold up light sticks during a rally to mark the one-year anniversary of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law bid in the southeastern city of Ulsan in this Dec. 3, 2025, file photo. (Yonhap)

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Citizens who blocked 2024 martial law crisis recommended for Nobel Peace Prize

By Yi Wonju

SEOUL, Feb. 19 (Yonhap) -- Citizens who blocked armored vehicles and troops from entering the National Assembly building on the night of the 2024 martial law crisis have been recommended as recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize for their role in helping the nation defend its democracy, professors said Thursday.

South Korea was thrown into one of its worst cases of political turmoil in decades following the botched martial law bid by ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol, but eventually overcame the crisis due to civilians' active resistance and the military's passive response, according to judges.

Kim Eui-young, professor of political science and international relations at Seoul National University, said he and some other scholars submitted the nomination to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, the group responsible for selecting the annual winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, last month.

The scholars, including current and former presidents of the International Political Science Association, reportedly described the citizens' action during the short-lived martial law imposition as a global example of nonviolent resistance that overcame a constitutional crisis without civil unrest or repression.

"The world watched in amazement as South Korea overcame an insurrection and restored democracy in just six month at a time when democracy is declining globally," Kim said.

President Lee Jae Myung posted a message on social media platform X, praising South Korea as a country of "great citizens" that will remain as a "model" for human history.

In a special national address marking the one-year anniversary of martial law imposition last December, Lee said the South Korean people fully deserve the Nobel Peace Prize.

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