iIn the global battle for the supremacy of soft power in recent years, a clear winner has emerged: South Korea. Driven by the boys phenomenon BTSon Korean wave turned a country few knew much about into a cultural giant.
But just days ago, as anticipation grew for the start later this month of the second season of Squid game – whose first season it is Netflix’s most-watched show – a real-life dystopia intervened when South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol announced that he imposition of martial law to root out “anti-state forces” and overcome political opponents who obstructed his political agenda.
Yoon, Archconservative, reversed course about six hours later, after parliament, including some members of his party, voted to oppose the decree. But by then the reputational damage was done, with the US – Seoul’s most important ally – Japan and the UK among those expressing “serious concern” about the short-lived entry into the government by force.
A global audience more used to the positive vibes of K-pop witnessed in real time a country South Korea which few recognized – one which, for older citizens, awakened the trauma of a time when their country was ruled by military dictators and democracy fighters were gunned down in the street.
The most notable contrast between the Hallyu Wave – a huge portfolio of internationally acclaimed films, drama, pop musicand now literature – and the latest turmoil was evident outside the National Assembly building in Seoul on Tuesday, where lawmakers scaled walls and confronted armed soldiers to reclaim the democratic rights seized by their president while military helicopters circled overhead.
As uncertainty continued over the weekend, when parliament was set to vote on Yun’s impeachment, South Koreans wondered whether their country would emerge from the chaos with its reputation intact.
“Our reputation took a serious hit,” said Seoul resident Kim Jung-ho. “We had built it up so much, especially this year with Han Kang winning the Nobel Prize for Literature and our peaceful global image. It all came crashing down in an instant.”
Others outside the National Assembly believed that the crisis had unexpectedly shown the strength of democracy in the country. “There may be some damage to our international image, but I’m less worried now,” said Bang Kyung-rok, 31, a law student at Chonnam National University in Gwangju.
“The quick joint action of lawmakers and citizens to block this showed a bright side for Korea.” Seeing how the citizens reacted and especially how reluctant the military was to fully impose martial law made me more confident in the resilience of our democracy.
In the decades following the Korean War of 1950-53. – when the country’s economy was in worse shape than that of North Korea – South Korea has become Asia’s fourth-largest economy and producer of household names in automotive and consumer electronics, with a population of 51 million connected to lightning-fast internet.
But despite its rapid economic and cultural achievements, the country still struggles with deep-seated authoritarian tendencies within its institutions. These are often enabled and reinforced by traditional hierarchies and networks, as evidenced by the alleged pivotal role of Yoon’s high school connections in the martial law crisis.
Had martial law been in effect for more than a few chaotic hours, political activity at the national and local levels would have ground to a halt and the country, observers said, would have been plunged into a “wartime, war-like situation”. A curfew would be imposed and public demonstrations banned. The media would be heavily censored; the powers of the courts and government agencies are suspended.
It emerged on Friday that Yun’s attack on his country’s fragile democracy included the planned arrests of key opposition politicians whom he has labeled without evidence as agents of the nuclear-armed regime in Pyongyang.
“The president’s reckless declaration of martial law has caused enormous economic damage and tarnished our national image both domestically and internationally,” said Nam Jae-sun, 46, a small business owner in the capital. This will be remembered as a symbolic failure for democracy in 2024.”
Elements of Yun’s doomed scheme may have come from North Korea’s scheme, but observers need look no further than South Korea’s recent history for evidence that despite its embrace of modernity, its hard-won political and civil liberties still can be taken away in the blink of a presidential eye.
Only in 1988 The Seoul Olympics marked South Korea’s exit from nearly 30 years of military rule. As the country tried to recover from the Korean War, its leaders used martial law to put troops on the streets to prevent anti-government demonstrations.
Martial law was most enthusiastically imposed by Park Chung-hee, a general who led several thousand troops into Seoul in May 1961. in a coup that remained leader for almost 20 years. Park declared martial law several times to jail opponents and quell protests before being shot dead by his spy chief in 1979.
Less than two months after Park’s assassination, Major General Chun Doo-hwan led the country’s second military coup and a year later ordered troops to fire on pro-democracy protesters in the southern city of Gwangju, killing hundreds.
Chun was forced to accept direct presidential elections after mass protests in 1987, with Roh Tae-woo becoming the country’s first democratically elected president.
Young South Koreans would dismiss it as an unimaginable throwback to the days of The Gwangju Massacre – until this week, when the country’s democracy teeters on the brink of collapse, reviving bitter memories among older people of a time of mass arrests and incarceration in “re-education” camps.
“When I first heard the martial law announcement, I thought it must be fake,” said Bang Jeeyoung, a 55-year-old youth worker. “I thought if it was real it would be terrifying because I remembered the martial law period of my youth.”
But she added: “Instead of damaging Korea’s image, I think it could mark the end of our remaining undemocratic elements.” If we overcome this, Korea will become an even stronger democracy. This crisis has exposed people who still hold authoritarian attitudes, including the president himself. It showed us clearly what needs to change and it has nothing to do with party politics.
A day before the expected impeachment vote, South Korea appears to be pulling back from the brink, with reports of moves by Yoon’s party to remove him just a day after they said they would support him, while organizers predicted around 200,000 people would turn out. turned out to protest all over the country.
As rumors swirled that Yun might reimpose martial law, the leader of his People Power party [PPP]Han Dong-hoon, called for the president’s immediate removal, warning that he could “put the Republic of Korea and its citizens in great danger.”
On Saturday, South Korean lawmakers – most notably the 108 lawmakers in Yun’s party – face a stark choice: embrace the will of the people or retreat into South Korea’s dark past.
