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Yoon Suk Yeol promised that as South Korean president he would “rebuild this great nation” into a nation “that truly belongs to the people” when he delivered his inaugural speech in May 2022.

Instead, his presidency has been marked by increasing unpopularity and political dysfunction, culminating in Tuesday’s declaration of martial law in the country for the first time in more than four decades.

Yoon has faced major challenges since the start of his term, coming to power with a low approval rating and a parliament dominated by the opposition.

The 63-year-old former prosecutor, who was instrumental in the successful prosecution of former presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak, had never held a political role before announcing his presidential candidacy in 2021.

In 2019, he was appointed attorney general by his predecessor as president, the liberal Moon Jae-in – but their relationship soured after Yoon launched an investigation into Moon’s justice minister, significantly increasing Yoon’s public profile. After resigning in March 2021, Yoon secured the presidential candidacy of the conservative People Power Party.

In the following year’s election, he won against his liberal rival by just 0.73 percent – the narrowest margin in a South Korean presidential race.

Yoon had an early sense of the challenge he would face from the opposition-controlled parliament as he struggled to win the approval of his preferred Cabinet nominees, four of whom were forced to withdraw amid allegations of impropriety.

Difficulties continued as Yoon tried to pass legislation. As of January 2024, only 29 percent of the bills submitted to Parliament by his government had been passed.

Yoon responded by using presidential veto power to thwart opposition-sponsored legislation, making more vetoes than any of his predecessors since the end of military rule in 1987.

Early in his term, he made a point of informally answering questions from journalists when he came to work. But his relationship with the media deteriorated when he targeted critical reporting and the police and public prosecutors repeatedly took action against alleged publishers of “fake news”.

Another public relations setback came when Yoon announced a plan to move his office from the historic Blue House palace in central Seoul to a defense ministry complex. Yoon hoped his more down-to-earth work environment would lead to greater engagement with the public, but he faced an outcry over the cost of implementing the plan.

Other battles took place in critical policy areas including education – Yoon had to scrap a plan to send children to school a year early – and health, with doctors waging a long-running strike over pay and working conditions.

His unpopularity was underscored by parliamentary elections in April this year, which gave the opposition Democratic Party another large majority.

Opposition MPs have since pushed for an investigation into Yoon and his wife over allegations of unfair dealings with an electoral office owner, which Yoon has firmly denied.

Yoon has sometimes received a warmer reception abroad – particularly during a state visit to Washington in April last year, when he regaled President Joe Biden with a rendition of the 1970s song American cake. Yoon was also the first South Korean president to attend a NATO meeting and provided significant assistance to Ukraine while deepening military and security cooperation with the United States and Japan.

This drew criticism from the opposition, who accused him of antagonizing China, the country’s most important trading partner.

Unlike his predecessor Moon, who favored dialogue with North Korea, Yoon took a tougher line against Pyongyang, which responded with more missile tests during his rule.

As parliamentary resistance continued, Yoon became increasingly frustrated – particularly with the opposition’s refusal to pass his proposed annual budget. The opposition countered with a smaller package that Yoon said would mean unacceptable cuts in areas such as disaster preparedness and child care support.

“The Legislative Dictatorship of the Democratic Party. . . is even using the budget as a tool of political struggle,” Yoon said in his speech announcing martial law on Tuesday.

Hours later, he said he intended to repeal the “emergency measure” after lawmakers rejected it in Parliament – making his own position more uncertain amid one of the worst constitutional crises in South Korea’s modern history.