• Yoon backs off in showdown with lawmakers
  

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SEOUL, Dec 4 (Reuters) - South Korean lawmakers on Wednesday called for the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol after he declared martial law only to reverse the move hours later, triggering the biggest political crisis in decades in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

The surprise declaration late on Tuesday ignited a standoff with parliament which rejected his attempt to ban political activity and censor the media, as armed troops forced their way into the National Assembly building in Seoul.

A coalition of lawmakers from opposition parties said they planned to propose a bill to impeach Yoon on Wednesday which should be voted within 72 hours.

“The parliament should focus on immediately suspending the president’s business to pass an impeachment bill soonest,” Hwang Un-ha, one of the MPs in the coalition, told reporters.

The leader of Yoon’s ruling People Power Party called for Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun to be fired and the entire cabinet to resign.