Tuesday's declaration of martial law was the first by a South Korean president in over 40 years. South Korea has had a total of 17 martial law declarations so far since it was first imposed in Oct. 21, 1948.
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday declared martial law to “eradicate pro-North Korean forces and to protect the constitutional order of freedom."
Yoon labeled the opposition as "anti-state activities plotting rebellion," in the emergency televised address.
Interim President Choi Kyu-hah made the most recent martial law declaration before that, on Oct. 27, 1979, after the assassination of President Park Chung-hee the previous day.
Under that period of martial law, which lasted a total of 440 days, several pro-democracy movements took place, but so did the Dec. 12 military coup in 1979 that propelled President Chun Doo-hwan to power. This was followed the May 18 pro-democracy uprising in 1980 where Gwangju citizens protested against the then-military junta led by Chun.
The first martial law was declared on Oct. 21, 1948, by South Korea's first president Rhee Syngman Rhee, in response to the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident, a rebellion by South Korean soldiers who refused to suppress a left-wing military and civilian uprising on the southern island of Jeju. Rhee declared martial law a total of 10 times throughout his presidency spanning from 1948 to 1960.
An emergency martial law was declared on May 16, 1961, when Park Chung-hee, who was a general in the South Korean military at the time, staged a military coup with his fellow military officers and brought an end to the interim Second Republic of Korea, led by Choi Kyu-hah.
