Seoul, South Korea – On Wednesday morning, many in South Korea woke up to a reality they had not dreamed of.
The previous night, the country’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, had imposed martial law.
Using ambiguous language, he proclaimed the need to “protect the country from North Korean communists and eliminate antistate elements” while stating a need to “rebuild and protect the country from falling into ruin”. Sending troops to blockade the National Assembly building as midnight approached, Yoon attempted to stop parliamentarians from interfering in his plans.
Yoon failed: Legislators entered parliament and voted to lift martial law, which eventually lasted only two hours.
By morning, South Korea had survived its first attempted coup in more than 40 years.
As the day went by, life for students on university campuses and office workers in city centres continued as usual. Back in front of the National Assembly building, however, the drama from Tuesday night continued.
Hundreds of protesters and citizens gathered in front of the building’s steps to join demonstrations led by members of the opposition Democratic Party who, a few hours earlier, had put forward a bill to impeach Yoon. They hope to get it passed by Saturday.
But protesters on the grounds were not willing to wait that long: Many yelled for Yoon to step down immediately.
“There was no procedural legitimacy at all in the president’s actions last night,” said 44-year-old Shin Byung-soo, who was holding a candle alongside other protesters. “He looked past the wellbeing and intelligence of our people, making unilateral decisions that carried unprecedented consequences.”
Min Jun-shik, 43, who was taking photos of the demonstrations, echoed the sentiment that Yoon “doesn’t have the capabilities of a president” and wished he would “resign soon”.
Earlier in his office in Seoul, Min said most of the talk between colleagues centred on “how surreal Yoon’s decision was”.
“This reminds me of a few years ago, when we braved the cold to call for Park Geun-hye to step down,” Min said, referring to the country’s first presidential impeachment back in 2017. Park – who was president from 2013 to 2017 – was impeached, and then convicted by the country’s Constitutional Court, over corruption charges tied to extra-constitutional influence wielded by an aide.
“Our economy isn’t great and making a living is hard for many as it is. This has made the situation even worse. The won declined significantly, and another stain has been put on our country’s reputation,” Min said.
Chung Joo-shin, the director of the Korea Institute of Politics and Society, said Yoon’s actions had damaged South Korea’s status in the world.
“When foreigners talk about South Korea, they’re reminded of the various democratic wins throughout the country’s history that have made it to see unprecedented growth,” Chung said. Yoon’s imposition of martial law, however, “showed that South Korea still had ways to go to become an advanced democratic society”.
“Facing record-low approval ratings due to the country’s rising inflation and the regularity of scandals during his presidency, Yoon tried to see an escape route,” Chun added. “But his plan had no legitimate justification and wasn’t fully thought out first.”
The result: Yoon, whose popularity ratings have dropped to 25 percent in recent polling.
plummeted to 25 percent in recent polling, oversaw the shortest-lived martial law in the country’s history.
It’s a history chequered with such proclamations – but only invoked in the past during military dictatorships. Those decades of military rule ended only in 1988, after years of struggle for democracy, including during the Gwangju uprising, a mass protest that broke out on May 18, 1980, in the southern city of Gwangju. Hundreds of protesters were feared killed in a crackdown by security forces.
For Jeon Hyun-jung, 33, whose mother worked in Gwangju during the student-led protests, the thought of the return of martial law made it difficult to fall asleep even late on Wednesday.
“When I called my friend in Seoul, I heard helicopters and armoured vehicles moving in the streets through her phone,” recalled Jeon. “I was really worried that soldiers would maybe use force against people.”
But after the National Assembly voted to lift martial law, she went to sleep trusting that things would go back to normal by the morning.
“I think many of my South Korean friends went to sleep like myself. Rather, it was my friends from outside the country who reached out to me in shock,” Jeon said. “They couldn’t believe that this was happening to South Korea.”
Lee Gil-bok, who lives in the northern province of Paju, also slept in relative peace as she believed that the situation would not spiral for the worse overnight. But Tuesday’s events have made her think again about the prospect of sending her grandchildren to live abroad.
“I feel like there aren’t any leaders in the country who children can look up to these days,” the 65-year-old said. “Politicians only look out to protect their own interests, and they have let go of their reason in the process. We can’t really trust anyone with power any more.”
