Long before this week, South Korea had a painful history with martial law

For many people outside South Korea, President Yoon Suk Yeol’s decision to declare martial law earlier this week was a sudden and startling development. But within the country, it was a chilling reminder of past unrest and lives lost on the path to democracy.

Yoon’s order on Tuesday was not the first time in the country’s nearly 80-year history that martial law was imposed. Since its founding in 1948, South Korea has experienced numerous political clashes that resulted in the imposition of martial law – including a pivotal episode in 1980 that left scores dead and a nation in shock.

The country has had a turbulent political history, with authoritarian rule from its founding after independence from Japanese colonialism until the 1980s, according to Charles Kim, a professor of Korean studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“This is a time when there was a lot of political repression, media repression and political violence against dissidents,” Kim said.

In total, martial law has been declared in South Korea at least 16 times Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). It was enacted in times of war – including the Korean War – but it was also enacted by South Korean leaders trying to hold on to power in the face of protests, Kim said.

Martial law was first imposed in South Korea in 1948 by then-President Syngman Rhee after government troops faced a communist-led military uprising. Rhee, who was president for 12 years, would impose it again in 1952.

The Gwangju Uprising

Before Tuesday, martial law in South Korea was last declared by Chun Doo-hwan, a general who came to power in a coup after the assassination of President Park Chung-hee in 1979 – a former general who also declared martial law during his time in office had proclaimed to take action against dissenting opinions.

The day after Chun declared martial law in May 1980, students who opposed the order took to the streets and demonstrated against the military dictatorship in the southwestern city of Gwangju. Chun responded with violent crackdown and sent in the military to repel the protest.

According to official estimates, around 200 people had been killed by the end of the uprising. But survivors’ families said the actual death toll from the so-called Gwangju uprising was far higher.

The uprising would mark a major turning point in South Korea’s move away from authoritarian rule. Although the country did not officially transition to democracy until 1987, the shock caused by the violence in Gwangju was seen as a crucial catalyst for change that helped make Chun the country’s last dictator.

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AFP via Getty Images

Another time

According to CSIS, South Korea’s constitution still allows a president to declare martial law in “response to war, incidents, or other national emergencies.” However, the Constitution also gives the National Assembly the ability to revoke a declaration of martial law by majority vote.

Kim, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said Yoon made a “huge miscalculation” with his decision to declare martial law, pointing out that there was a difference from when it was decreed by previous leaders.

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AFP via Getty Images

“Under these dictators in the past they could count on the support of parliament because they were much more on the side of the president,” he said. The president can rely on the National Assembly “not attempting to reverse the martial law decree in an authoritarian era.”

He added that the National Assembly’s decision to repeal the decree within hours of Yoon’s statement – along with the mass protests that erupted in response – sent a strong message to Yoon and future leaders: “This won’t work, this is it.” . “A very different time and a painful reminder to the president that he does not have the mandate of the people.”

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