Abstract. The decision of the President of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Yoon Suk Yeol to impose martial law caused an acute political crisis in the country. The active resistance of the opposition and public protests against the background of inconsistent government actions forced the President to cancel his decree. On the second attempt, parliament voted to impeach Yoon Suk Yeol, but this ruling is still to be approved by the Constitutional Court. The country’s population as a whole has demonstrated its commitment to democratic traditions. However, the current internal political conflict has revealed significant problems of the country’s political system and deep social contradictions, and the crisis is becoming protracted. The country has split into two opposing camps of “progressives” (the current opposition) and conservatives (the ruling administration). The political crisis had a negative impact on the economic situation, especially on the situation of small and medium-sized businesses, as well as revealed contradictions among the elites on the issue of balancing the country’s foreign policy towards Japan and the United States, on the one hand, North Korea, China and the Russian Federation, on the other.