South Korea’s history of coups and martial law

South Korea only became a republic in the late 1980s, and military interference in political affairs remains a sensitive issue. During the dictatorships that emerged as the country rebuilt from the devastation of the 1950-53 Korean War, leaders occasionally declared martial law, allowing them to station soldiers, tanks and armored vehicles on the streets or in public spaces to deter anti-government protests. demonstrations. Such scenes are unimaginable to many today, the Guardian reports. Dictator Park Chung-hee, who ruled South Korea for nearly 20 years before being assassinated by his spy chief in 1979, led several thousand troops into Seoul in the early hours of May 16, 1961, in the country’s first successful coup. During his rule, he occasionally declared martial law to quell protests and jail his critics. Less than two months after Park Chung-hee’s death, Lt. Gen. Chun Doo-hwan […]
Source: News Beast

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