South Korea’s SEOUL History was a major concern for South Koreans as they turned out this week to protect democracy in the face of their president’s unexpected declaration of martial law.
In an area where authoritarianism is on the increase, South Korea, a vital Asian democracy and the tenth-largest economy in the world, is a crucial partner of the United States. However, the 50 million-person nation endured decades of military-authoritarian control, with martial law regularly imposed and individuals who opposed it occasionally slain.
Eun A. Jo, a postdoctoral scholar at the Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College, stated, “I believe that many people were worried about what soldiers on duty who were being deployed to implement martial law were going to do.” Fortunately, there was no violence this time around.
In a late-night broadcast speech on Tuesday, President Yoon Suk Yeol surprised the nation by declaring martial law. In the heart of Seoul, where military were already assembling, lawmakers and members of the public hurried to the National Assembly.
According to Jo, the division that was sent out consisted of people who have been trained to carry out some of the most difficult missions in relation to North Korea, with whom South Korea is still nominally at war. Therefore, I believe that they believed this had something to do with it when they were sent. However, they eventually arrived in the National Assembly.
Since the legislature’s operations had been prohibited by the martial law declaration, their responsibility was to keep lawmakers from entering.
According to Jo, a lot of them were perplexed by the directive. Some expressed embarrassment.
After successfully entering, lawmakers swiftly passed a unanimous vote to revoke Yoon’s order, which he lifted early on Wednesday.
Tens of thousands of South Koreans are likely to demonstrate in Seoul on Saturday as the immediate shock of the events has subsided and calls have been made for Yoon to step down or be impeached. At 5 p.m. local time (3 a.m. ET), a vote to impeach him is scheduled to take place.
A long road to democracy
Under its first president, Syngman Rhee, who employed martial rule to repress communists, South Korea, which was established in 1948 following the partition of the Korean Peninsula into the Soviet-occupied north and the U.S.-occupied south, went through several periods of martial law.
In 1960, anti-corruption demonstrations compelled Rhee to resign. The following year, South Korean army general Park Chung-hee, who also enjoyed imposing martial law to suppress dissent, overthrew his successor, Yun Bo-seon.
In 1979, Park was assassinated. The U.S.-backed Chun Doo-hwan, who governed for eight years, overthrew his successor, Choi Kyu-hah, in a military coup.
Chun imposed martial law in South Korea for the last time in 1980. In response, a pro-democracy rebellion spearheaded by citizens and students erupted in the southern city of Gwangju.
The ensuing military crackdown is thought to have killed hundreds of people.
According to Jo, the revolt was a turning point in South Korean history and the nation’s final attempt at democratization until it was accomplished in 1987.
She stated that we are raised with the history of Gwangju.
According to Jo, the soldiers deployed this week are different from those who were sent in to implement martial law in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s because they are from a different age and are much more familiar with the history of the South Korean dictatorship.
Rob York, director for regional affairs at Pacific Forum, a Honolulu-based foreign policy research firm, suggested that Yoon might have learned a different lesson from South Korean history.
According to York, there were a few coups that occurred during South Korea’s military dictatorship that were intended to end the impasse and take decisive action to secure the nation’s future. That’s what Yoon was attempting to do, I believe.
However, Yoon did not fully comprehend that he lacked the kind of control over the military, according to York, and that he even lacked control over his own party, unlike the masterminds of previous coups.
According to York, Yoon seemed to anticipate that the South Korean military and anti-communist elements would unite behind him, just as they had done for Chun Doo-hwan and Park Chung-hee before him. Yoon accused opposition lawmakers of blocking the government and having North Korean sympathies.
Rather, demonstrators flocked to the National Assembly, accompanied by widely shared footage of civilians addressing soldiers about their behavior.
According to York, Yoon and his allies were taken aback by how swiftly the Korean people rebelled and opposed their decision. That, in my opinion, shows how determined the Korean people are to avoid returning to that era of history.
The U.S. role in military rule
The Biden administration was one among many taken by surprise this week, claiming it was not informed beforehand of Yoon’s plans.
U.S. officials have emphasized the unwavering nature of the U.S. relationship with South Korea, which hosts about 30,000 American soldiers and is seen as a crucial bulwark against North Korea, China, and Russia, several times this week.
Since the end of World War II, the U.S. military has been in South Korea virtually constantly; from 1945 to 1948, it practically ruled the nation. Today, American forces there act as a deterrence to North Korea’s nuclear-armed aggression.
The United States has been charged for supporting South Korean tyrants over democratic leaders over the years.
According to Jo, in the past, whenever South Korean authoritarian authorities wished to impose martial law, they usually sought Washington’s tacit approval.
For instance, President Jimmy Carter authorized the lethal South Korean military response to the 1980 Gwangju rebellion because he was concerned that the demonstrations may spread to other towns and prompt North Korean action.
“According to declassified documents, the United States agreed to release command of an infantry division that was deployed to enforce Park’s martial law in 1964, when there were nationwide demonstrations against the normalization of relations with Japan,” Jo stated.
Jean H. Lee, a northeast Asia specialist and adjunct fellow at the East-West Center research organization in Honolulu, said the events in South Korea this week also reminded him of more recent history.
Following several large candlelight vigils, Park Geun-hye, the daughter of Park Chung-hee, another conservative president, was impeached in 2016. Following a 24-year prison sentence for embezzlement and other offenses, Yoon’s predecessor, President Moon Jae-in, pardoned her in 2021.
According to Lee, protests have long been a part of South Korean culture and history, and in 2016 they demonstrated their ability to overthrow a president.
Jennifer Jett reported from Hong Kong, and Stella Kim from Seoul.
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