section_path: National Assembly (2022–2025)/2024 martial law crisis
section_name: 2024 martial law crisis
paragraph_text: 2024 martial law crisis
  
  Lee gained international attention in 2024 when, after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law and attempted to stop the National Assembly from convening using the military, continued to go to the Assembly building anyway. Lee started a livestream on his YouTube channel, recording himself climbing the National Assembly building fence to bypass the military personnel. He called on people to gather in front of the Assembly building, and to "...keep protesting". The Democratic Party alleged that an arrest team had been sent to him, Han Dong-hoon, and Woo Won-shik, attempting to bring all three into custody. This was confirmed from testimony by National Intelligence Service (NIS) Deputy Director Hong Jang-won, who stated Yoon wanted to "use this chance to arrest and wipe them out."
  
  He stated that he thought the martial law declaration was, initially, a deepfake. He afterwards led the charge to impeach Yoon, with himself frequently rallying against the President outside the Assembly building, claiming that Yoon committed treason. On impeachment, he stated that "Yoon will be impeached, if it's today, a month, or three months from now." Yoon was ultimately impeached by the National Assembly on 14 December.
  
  In March 2025, Lee was cleared of a previous accusation of violating election law by a South Korean appeals court, but an appeal filed by the prosecutors to the Supreme Court of Korea overturned his acquittal on 1 May, returning it to the Seoul High Court. The Seoul High Court will be required to deliberate the case again and then refer it to the Supreme Court for a final decision. The initial date of retrial was set at 15 May, but was later delayed to 18 June, which is after the election date.