SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s President Yoon Sul Yeol announced Wednesday he would lift martial law hours after the national parliament rebuffed his decree and thousands turned out in the streets of the capital demanding his impeachment.

Yoon’s pre-dawn statement appeared to defuse a major political crisis in one of America’s key Pacific allies at a time of rising tension with communist North Korea.

U.S. Forces Korea ordered the 28,500 U.S. service members stationed in South Korea to report through their chains of command no later than 10 a.m. Wednesday and to remain in their homes until then, according to a Department of Defense alert text message.

“There is no threat to families or Service Members. This measure is out of an abundance of caution due to government activities in Seoul,” the text message said.

The stunning events unfolded late Tuesday when Yoon declared military rule, vowing to eliminate “anti-state” forces as he struggles against an opposition that controls the country’s parliament and that he accuses of sympathizing with North Korea.

Less than three hours later, the National Assembly voted to lift the decree. National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik declared that the decree was “invalid” and that lawmakers “will protect democracy with the people.” All 190 delegates of the 300-member National Assembly present early Wednesday morning voted to demand Yoon end martial law.

Faced with the strong pushback, Yoon backed down about five hours after his first announcement, saying he would withdraw his decree and was waiting for his cabinet to arrive so he could formally lift the order.

The cabinet approved the motion to end martial law enforcement at 4:30 a.m., around six hours after Yoon made the emergency declaration, according to Yonhap News. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said that troops, which were mobilized to execute martial law, have returned to base.

As parliament voted against the decree, hundreds of South Korean police with riot shields had gathered outside the presidential compound and the National Assembly, facing protesters who opposed the decree.

“Thankfully, the lawmakers stopped this,” Jeong Seung Hyun, an Ansan city council member and member of the opposition Democratic Party, said at the gates following the vote.

Jeong said he drove from Ansan, parked on the traffic-choked streets and walked a half-mile to the gate. Park Sung-soo, an office worker from Anyang city, said he’d been outside the assembly about three hours. He drove to Seoul after hearing the news of the martial-law decree, ditched his car and walked to the gates. He carried a sign: “Impeachment is peace.”

The only resolution to this crisis, he said, is to impeach Yoon. Yoon in his speech referenced the National Assembly’s impeachment efforts against members of his administration, calling it “an unprecedented situation since the founding of our country.”

Before Yoon backed down, the 1 million strong Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, one of the largest labor groups, declared an “indefinite general strike,” The New York Times reported.

South Korea’s Democratic Party, which holds the majority in the National Assembly, threatened to file motions to impeach state prosecutors last week in relation to their handling of a stock manipulation case against South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee.

In announcing the declaration, Yoon acknowledged that emergency martial law would “cause some inconvenience to the good people who believed in and followed the values of the constitution of [South Korea], but we will focus on minimizing these inconveniences.” However, the leader of Yoon’s own conservative party, Han Dong-hoon, called the decision wrong and vowed to “stop it with the people,” The Associated Press reported.

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, who narrowly lost to Yoon in the 2022 presidential election, called Yoon’s announcement “illegal and unconstitutional,” according to the AP. South Korea’s Constitution allows its president to impose martial law during wartime, armed conflict or national emergency.

In Washington, Kurt Campbell, U.S. deputy secretary of state, reiterated that the United States would “stand by Korea in their time of uncertainty.”

“I also want to just underscore that we have every hope and expectation that any political disputes will be resolved peacefully and in accordance with the rule of law,” Campbell said.

Yoon’s party has been locked in an impasse with the liberal opposition over next year’s budget bill. The opposition has also attempted to pass motions to impeach three top prosecutors, including the chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, in what the conservatives have called a vendetta against their criminal investigations of Lee, who has been seen as the favorite for the next presidential election in 2027 in opinion polls.

During his televised announcement, Yoon also described the opposition as “shameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces who are plundering the freedom and happiness of our citizens,” but he did not elaborate.

Yoon has taken a hard line on North Korea over its nuclear ambitions, departing from the policies of his liberal predecessor, Moon Jae-in, who pursued inter-Korean engagement.

Yoon has also dismissed calls for independent investigations into scandals involving his wife and top officials, drawing quick, strong rebukes from his political rivals.

Natalia Slavney, research analyst at Stimson Center’s 38 North website that focuses on Korean affairs, told the AP that Yoon’s imposition of martial law was “a serious backslide of democracy in South Korea” that followed a “worrying trend of abuse” since he took office in 2022.

“It remains to be seen what the political fallout of this brief emergency martial law will be — both domestically and internationally. But South Korea has a robust history of political pluralism and is no stranger to mass protests and swift impeachments,” Slavney said,

Under the South Korean constitution, the president is required to notify the National Assembly immediately following the declaration. If the majority of lawmakers vote to lift the declaration, the president “shall comply” with the request.

Two types of martial law exist in South Korea: security martial law, and emergency martial law, according to the constitution. Under emergency martial law, the president may prohibit political demonstrations and curtail freedom of the press for the government to continue functioning.

Security martial law is declared during war time or a national emergency to maintain peace and order. Yoon’s decision marks the first time in 44 years a South Korean president has declared martial law.

Former President Park Chung-hee declared martial law throughout the 1970s, a decree unilaterally extended by South Korean Gen. Chun Doo-hwan, who deployed troops to suppress pro-democracy protesters, many of them on college campuses.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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