The night time of December 3 felt surreal to many South Koreans. Round 10:23 pm (KST), South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol delivered a six-minute speech, declaring a nationwide martial regulation. In his speech, he blamed the opposition for “paralysing” the federal government by initiating impeachments, slashing the funds, and attacking the constitutional order. The imposition of martial regulation banned all political actions, imposed surveillance over media, outlawed mass protests, and allowed arrests with out warrants.
As quickly as martial regulation was declared, police blocked the entrances to the Nationwide Meeting, prompting crowds to assemble in a non-violent protest. The arrival of airborne troops additional escalated the scenario, as they started to enter the Nationwide Meeting to forestall lawmakers from voting in opposition to the decree.
Regardless of blockades and the presence of army troops, by way of the unity of opposition events and a fraction of the ruling social gathering, PPP (Folks Energy Occasion), all 190 lawmakers unanimously voted to repeal the martial regulation by 1:00 am. By 4:27 am, President Yoon introduced the repeal of martial regulation.
Public Response and Protest
South Korea has a “late night time work tradition”, the place workers generally keep within the workplace till midnight. When folks heard about martial regulation, a couple of working round Yeouido (the placement of the Nationwide Meeting) rushed to the Nationwide Meeting together with legislators, college college students, and journalists. Though folks couldn’t straight vote to repeal the martial regulation, their swiftness and excessive civic consciousness of their duties as residents compelled them to assemble en masse inside minutes of the martial regulation declaration, pressuring the federal government by way of public outcry and non-violent protests. The promptness of lawmakers can not go unnoticed. DP chief Lee Jae-myung live-streamed on YouTube as he jumped the Nationwide Meeting fence to forged his vital vote in opposition to martial regulation. He additionally urged the residents to assemble in big numbers. The truth that every little thing occurred in lower than three hours performed an enormous half in saving democracy in South Korea. A Korean engineer commented, “I believe it might need been totally different if it occurred on a weekend or if the parliament vote was delayed to a different day.”
The night time of December 3 additionally introduced troubled recollections again into the limelight. “The declaration of martial regulation was one thing I had solely learn in historical past, and experiencing it first-hand was extremely horrifying,” stated a Korean worker. President Yoon’s declaration introduced again the nightmare of army regimes from the previous. Many individuals reportedly stayed awake all night time out of concern that Korea may return to the darkish period of army rule.
Korea has skilled authoritarian rule from the Sixties to the Eighties. Navy dictators and authoritarian leaders like Rhee Syngman, Park Chung-hee, and Chun Doo-hwan dominated the nation with an iron fist. These dictators suppressed political freedoms, curbed dissent, and restricted civil liberties. The lengthy authoritarian rule additionally imbibed a powerful tradition of protest amongst Koreans. As an example, the 1960 April Revolution protests broke out to defy Rhee Syngman’s martial regulation, forcing him to step down from the presidency. In 1961, Park Chung-hee led a army coup and took energy. He additionally continuously declared martial regulation and cracked down on dissenters. After Park’s assassination, Chun Doo-hwan led one other army coup and dominated Korea with brutality. He turned infamous for crushing the Gwangju Rebellion in 1980, a mass protest in opposition to the Chun’s rule. The trauma of army rule is so vivid amongst Koreans that journalists of Gwangju barricaded their newsrooms on the night time of December 3.
The dictators have been recognized for amending the structure to remain in energy longer. The Structure was amended 9 occasions, establishing six republics. As an example, in 1954, Rhee Syngman amended the structure to take away time period limits and declare himself president for all times. Equally, Park Chung-hee’s Yushin system of presidency concentrated authority within the workplace of an not directly elected president who was not topic to time period limits. Chun Doo-hwan additionally utilised constitutional amendments to restrict democratic reforms. Subsequently, to forestall democracy from backsliding in future, South Korea adopted its present democratic structure on 29 October 1987. Now, the president is elected by direct widespread election as soon as each 5 years and can’t serve multiple time period.
Deeply rooted in its historical past of resistance in opposition to authoritarianism, the protest tradition of South Korea has fostered a vibrant expression of civic participation, the place residents have interaction actively in rallies and demonstrations. As an example, hundreds of Koreans protested for the impeachment of former President Park Guen-Hye in 2016. Need to combat for democracy and consciousness of civic rights attributable to schooling have helped Koreans lead massive demonstrations in opposition to wrongdoings within the nation. In 2024, there was a health care provider strike, and lots of of ladies protested in opposition to deepfake crimes, now adopted by Yoon impeachment demonstrations. Most protests in Korea contain chanting slogans and singing songs- a symbolic instrument for peaceable resistance. On 5 December, round 2000 folks gathered in entrance of the Nationwide Meeting with candlelight, and the protests additionally included stay performances of widespread Korean songs, with lyrics modified to match protest chants.
What subsequent?
Folks have been already sceptical of President Yoon, and the declaration of martial regulation finally exacerbated his place. President Yoon is on the verge of impeachment as folks have known as his actions “irrational” and “delusional”, supporting the movement of impeachment. There have been a collection of resignations, and the opposition has already ready the impeachment draft. Moreover, the declaration of martial regulation infringed upon folks’s sovereignty and angered many whose ancestors struggled tirelessly to ascertain democracy in South Korea.
We have now but to see what it entails for Korea. Nonetheless, the occasions of December 3 spotlight how the shadow of lengthy authoritarian rule lingers even within the present democratic panorama of South Korea.
The author is a PhD Scholar in Korean Research on the Centre for East Asian Research, Jawaharlal Nehru College, New Delhi, and a Korea Basis Fellow conducting discipline analysis in South Korea
