South Korea’s Martial Law Was Nearly So Much Worse

Had it not been for the sudden implosion of the Assad regime, it would have been a clear contender for the craziest, least expected news story of the year. On the evening of December 3rd, South Korean President Yun Suk-Yor appeared on TV to announce that he was placing the country under martial law. What followed can be best described as absolute bedlam.

As protesters took to the streets, opposition lawmakers raced to the National Assembly where soldiers fought with ordinary citizens to get inside. Unprominent opposition politician was captured on film, scaling offense. In the end, the military helicopters were overhead, 190 lawmakers voted unanimously to end martial law.

A couple of hours later, President Yun revoked his decree. And just like that, South Korea's gravest political crisis in decades was over. For most of the outside world, the reaction to the drama swung from initial shock to eventual amusement at how bungling it had all been.