section_path: Reception and analysis/International analysis
section_name: International analysis
paragraph_text: International analysis
  
  In the United States, Foreign Policy magazine, the Associated Press, political scientists Sidney Tarrow and Benjamin Engel, and coup historians Joe Wright and John J. Chin described the events as an attempted self-coup. The subsequent impeachment motion in the National Assembly also described Yoon's actions as a self-coup. The New Yorker characterized it as "a coup, almost" and an "intended coup".
  
  In the United Kingdom, The Economist described the event as an attempted coup. The Economist Intelligence Unit also cited the declaration as its reason to downgrade South Korea from a "full democracy" to a "flawed democracy" in its 2024 Democracy Index. BBC News reported one resident comparing it to the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état.
  
  Reporters Without Borders criticized the declaration of martial law and its provisions allowing for military control of the press, noting that it would have led to the South Korean presidency gaining "total control over the media for the first time since the country's democratization".
  
  The martial law declaration was cited by Freedom House in its decision to give South Korea a score of 81 out of 100 in its Freedom in the World 2025 index, a reduction of two points from the previous year. The organization said that the "move highlighted one of the biggest threats faced by democracies around the world: elected leaders who attack democratic institutions".