When South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, a move reminiscent of the country’s authoritarian past, many citizens were reminded of their painful history. For 70-year-old Lee Chul-Woo, the declaration brought back memories of his youth, spent protesting right-wing military strongman rule. Lee, a supporter of the main opposition party, participated in pro-democracy student protests in the 1980s and was beaten and arrested by soldiers, an experience that still gives him cold sweats and nightmares.
The swift rejection and failure of Yoon’s move partly stems from the country’s painful history, which millions of South Koreans can still vividly recall. The event was a stark reminder of the country’s authoritarian past, when the military violently put down an uprising in Gwangju in May 1980, resulting in hundreds of deaths and disappearances.
Lee, a retired teacher, recalled how troops in Seoul entered the grounds of the university where he was studying with machine guns and tanks during the Gwangju massacre. When troops were sent to the National Assembly on Tuesday night to enforce Yoon’s orders, Lee said he thought about the death toll in Gwangju and how he was grateful that the troops this time were not “as ignorant as they were in Gwangju”.
Yoon’s branding of critics and opponents as North Korean or communist sympathisers echoes language used by South Korean governments before 1987 to justify crackdowns on dissent, alienating voters like Lee who suffered under right-wing authoritarian governments. Lee is hopeful that younger Koreans will take his place at protests, but he is willing to protect the National Assembly with his own body if martial law were to be declared again.
