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Police block the National Assembly's gate in eastern Seoul on Tuesday night, right after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law. (Yonhap) |
The six-hour standoff that tossed the South Korean democracy into turmoil on Tuesday echoed images of the powerful authoritarian rule during the 1970s and 80s, leading many people to revisit the times of suppression through the use of coercion and brutality.
This also gave a familiar reminder of the dark chapter of the country's history where the military arrested protesting activists and banned political activity, and media -- across all mediums -- censored.
"As a person who experienced a military-backed government, I could not believe that the President had tried to trample on democracy in a developed country using force. Who is the enemy that Yoon wanted to tear down using force? Is it the public, the opposition party or the anti-state forces?" Park Jae-yong, a 70-something in South Chungcheong Province, told The Korea Herald.
"If he wanted to confront those issues, the President should have done it in a way that is widely accepted by the public, not in a fear-mongering manner by shattering and breaking down windows like leaders in the past did," Park added.
President Yoon Suk Yeol's unprecedented declaration of martial law late Tuesday was the 17th martial law declared since the first Syngman Rhee administration came into power in 1948.
Soon after the declaration, a decree issued by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Park An-su went into effect nationwide on Tuesday at 11 p.m. The martial law command's decree outlined extensive controls on civil and political activities and that all medical professionals must resume their duties within 48 hours, including striking intern and resident doctors who had left their worksites in February. According to the decree, those who violate martial law can be arrested or raided without a warrant, resembling the country's past dictatorships.
The country's previous martial law dates back to October 27, 1979, when then-Interim President Choi Kyu-hah declared such a day after President Park Chung-hee's assassination.
During the 440 days of martial law, several pro-democracy movements took place, not to mention the December 12 military coup in 1979, which brought late former President Chun Doo-hwan to power. The May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising followed in 1980 when citizens protested Chun's martial regime.
The martial law order, which enacts temporary rule by the military and is usually invoked in times of war or emergency, has since carried heavy weight for many South Koreans, as it is tied to past periods of democratic struggle and political oppression.
Although the country made a seismic shift to democratic consolidation, Tuesday's chaos reflected images of gun-toting troops clad in military masks and goggles abruptly entering the National Assembly's building by smashing windows while aides tried to block them using fire extinguishers. It was the first time such a thing had happened in the history of the legislature. Also, some 280 martial troops had stormed into the building, according to the Parliament's secretary-general on Wednesday.
Unleashing a wave of frustration and outrage, hundreds of citizens also flocked to the site holding signs that read "End martial law" and chanting "Impeach Yoon Suk Yeol," as they faced rows of police.
While the martial law declaration was short-lived, it was the first by a South Korean president in nearly four decades. Yoon said the order aimed at "eradicating anti-state forces" and "protecting the Constitutional order of freedom" in a late-night emergency televised address. He had been grappling with the opposition-controlled parliament pushing for motions to impeach top prosecutors and rejecting a government budget proposal for next year.
