DPP deletes post comparing South Korea martial law incident to Taiwan

Taipei, Dec. 4 (CNA) A social media account run by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) quickly deleted a post it made on Tuesday suggesting that Taiwan's legislature faces a similar situation to that which prompted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to declare martial law.

"The South Korean parliament has been manipulated by North Korean forces," said the post by "lydppcaucus," an account run by the party's legislative caucus, on social media platform Threads.

"South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced emergency martial law nationwide to protect the free constitutional system," the post said.

"Have no doubt, we who are Team Taiwan are every second and every minute opposing global dark and evil forces encroaching on [Taiwan]," the post said.

The post also suggested that opposition parties in the Legislature had repeatedly obstructed national security proposals, "unconstitutionally expanded" their powers, and cut the defense budget, among other claims.

The post was quickly deleted around 20 minutes after it was made, and a statement criticizing martial law was posted in its place.

"The Democratic Progressive Party was a political party established during [Taiwan's] martial law period," the post said. "It deeply knows the harm that martial law has done to democratic societies."

"The DPP caucus [social media account on Threads] only shared international information and compared it with the domestic political situation, and [the post] absolutely did not mean support for martial law."

Later on Wednesday, Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), issued a statement on Facebook criticizing the DPP's quickly-deleted post as well as its subsequent statement.

"The KMT calls on (President) Lai Ching-te (賴清德) to apologize as soon as possible and come out to express his stance," the KMT post said, suggesting that the "long-term leadership style" of Taiwan's president bore similarities to the South Korean president's actions.

"Could it be that the DPP is currently establishing a new party-state system?" the KMT post asked.

The Taiwan People's Party (TPP), Taiwan's third-largest party, also issued a statement criticizing the quickly-deleted DPP post on Wednesday, saying that "today's DPP has a martial law mentality hidden in its heart."

Taiwan was ruled by the KMT under martial law from 1949 to 1987.