South Korean history is scarred by martial law

The most recent — and the most notorious example of martial law being imposed, perhaps — came after the 1979 assassination of President Park Chung-hee, a former general who had occasionally used martial law himself to crack down on political protests and opposition since seizing power in 1961.

For many younger South Koreans, President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived declaration of martial law late Tuesday night was their first exposure to a kind of turbulence that older generations remember all too well.

Since South Korea was founded in 1948, a number of presidents have declared states of military emergency. The most recent — and the most notorious, perhaps — came after the 1979 assassination of President Park Chung-hee, a former general who had occasionally used martial law himself to crack down on political protests and opposition since seizing power in 1961.

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Soon after Park was killed, a general, Chun Doo-hwan, staged his own coup. In May 1980, he declared martial law, banning all political activities, closing schools and arresting dissidents.

Protests erupted in the southwestern city of Gwangju, and Chun sent in armored vehicles and paratroopers, who crushed the uprising. Officials said at least 191 people were killed, including 26 soldiers and police officers, but families of slain demonstrators said the death toll was much higher.

Chun, who remained in power until 1988, characterized the Gwangju protests as a revolt driven by North Korean operatives. But the uprising became a pivotal moment in South Korea’s transition to democracy, and many South Koreans support revising the Constitution to honor its importance to the country.

In 1996, Chun and another former general, Roh Tae-woo — a childhood friend of Chun who backed his rule and was directly elected president in 1988 — were prosecuted for the 1979 coup and the deadly crackdown that followed.

President Kim Young-sam, who served from 1993-98, said at the time of the prosecutions that they marked a new era of constitutionalism for Korea. But Kim pardoned both men the next year, a move aimed at uniting the country.

Shin Woo-jae, a spokesperson for Kim, said the pardons were granted “to promote national reconciliation and rally the nation’s energies to overcome the economic difficulties at this juncture when the nation conducted the cleanest and fairest presidential election in its history.”