South Korean citizens rushing to be with family members as martial law is declared

 Citizens of Seoul are rushing to be with their family members after martial law was declared across South Korea, CNN’s Mike Valerio has witnessed.

“When you’re just walking through the streets, there are people who are running to their families’ homes to be with them, to figure out what to do, to be close to loved ones in this moment that is unprecedented in so many of our memories,” he told CNN’s Becky Anderson from Seoul.

People are being told by law enforcement that they can be arrested without warrants being needed, Valerio reported.

This is the first time that martial law has been declared in the country since it was ruled by a military dictatorship in the 1980s.

“There are whole multitudes of people across (Seoul) who are stunned and are trying to figure out how an unpopular president made this move, what is going to happen next, and what this means for a democracy here in South Korea,” he said.