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Agence France-Presse

When South Korea’s leader declared martial law a year ago, one young woman blocked a tank, a civil servant resigned in protest and a lawmaker switched sides to remove him from office.
They are among the many South Koreans whose lives were transformed on December 3, 2024.
That wintry night, then president Yoon Suk-yeol interrupted national television broadcasts to suspend civilian rule for the first time in more than four decades.
Soldiers and tanks deployed in central Seoul. Troops landed by helicopter, smashing windows and storming parliament as lawmakers fought to overturn the decree.
With thousands of protesters filling the streets, the National Assembly voted within hours to nullify Yoon’s order.
A year on, Agence France-Presse spoke to three people who were there fighting to protect democracy and whose lives will never be the same.

Lawmaker Kim Sang-wook rushed to the National Assembly, where he faced down armed soldiers.
“I shouted, ‘The National Assembly is not a place for you to enter!’” he said.
Kim was a member of Yoon’s conservative People Power Party party, but he felt martial law had to be undone.
After helping to halt the decree in an emergency vote, Kim found himself working with the opposition to impeach the president.
They were eight votes short and Kim took the lead in persuading his colleagues.
Just over a week after the short-lived martial law, on December 14, a dozen lawmakers from Yoon’s ruling party helped pass the impeachment measure.
“The first thought was relief – we had stopped it,” Kim said.
“The next thought was, ‘What do I do now, what happens now?’” he added, saying he had “nowhere to go”.
As members of his party stormed out and the opposition cheered, Kim felt he “had been left completely alone in the world”.
A photo of him sitting alone and crying in the chamber went viral.


After weeks of reflection, Kim publicly backed opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, who later became president.
Kim then also joined the party he once opposed.
“What happened after December 3 gave my life and my politics a direction,” he said.
“I now know clearly where I should go, and for that, I am grateful.”
Ryu Hyuk, then inspector general at the justice ministry, made his way to the office as soon as he heard Yoon’s stunning decision.
Officials had already gathered there to discuss the martial law.
As the ministry’s internal watchdog, 57-year-old Ryu said he was convinced “it would not be appropriate to carry out any work related to that declaration”.
He decided to quit, and as he scribbled a resignation letter, his anger surged.
Bursting back into the meeting room, he shouted: “No matter your political views, martial law is not acceptable.”
He then walked out, the first and only civil servant to resign during the crisis.

Ryu said with certainty that “if martial law had continued, many public officials would have shared my views”.
Nearly a year later, he still has not decided where to turn next.
A registered lawyer, he could reopen his practice, but now usually spends his days scuba diving and running.
Kim Da-in had only just learned how to drive but found herself speeding towards the National Assembly with her parents as martial law was declared.
“I think my family felt the weight of what martial law meant,” Kim said.
They arrived after parliament had struck it down, but the streets were still in chaos.
The 25-year-old then saw a military tank turning to the National Assembly and ran towards it without hesitation.
“I wasn’t afraid,” she said.


After that night, she joined protesters who took to the streets in the freezing cold and rallied outside Yoon’s residence.
Seeing “the culture, the energy” that activists had created “made me think they can do anything”, Kim said.
“And it made me want to be among them.”
She is now preparing to switch from online university studies to a physical campus, where she can attend classes with some of those who have inspired her.
Kim has become known as “the woman who stopped the tank” after a video of her action went viral.
“I didn’t think about gender when I stepped in front of the tank,” she said.
“What I want to say … is simple: I intend to keep standing my ground.”


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South Korea

A year on from South Korea’s martial law upheaval, some lives are changed forever

Soldiers try to enter the National Assembly building in Seoul on December 4 last year. Photo: AFP

South Korean student Kim Da-in has become known as “the woman who stopped the tank” after a video of her action went viral during a protest against the failed martial law bid. Photo: AFP

South Korean lawmaker Kim Sang-wook. Photo: AFP

Ryu Hyuk was the first and only South Korean civil servant to resign during last year’s martial law crisis. Photo: AFP

Was Kim Keon-hee the catalyst for South Korea’s martial law crisis?

Yoon Suk-yeol and Kim Keon-hee attend a dinner in Madrid, Spain, in 2022. Photo: Handout

Kim Keon-hee (centre) attends her first trial hearing on corruption charges at Seoul Central District Court on September 24. Photo: AFP

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and his wife Kim Hea-kyung arrive back in South Korea on Wednesday following a state visit overseas. Photo: Yonhap/EPA

South Korea’s then president Yoon Suk-yeol enjoys a glass of wine during a state dinner at the White House in 2023. Photo: Yonhap/dpa

South Korea’s Yoon had dictatorial mindset well before martial law decree: leaked papers

South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk-yeol attends his impeachment trial on February 11. Photo: AP

A protester wears a mask of former president Yoon Suk-yeol during a rally near the Seoul Central District Court on July 9. Photo: AP.

Yoon Suk-yeol (left) stands next to his newly appointed defence minister, Kim Yong-hyun, on September 6, 2024. Photo: Yonhap/dpa

Balloons with leaflets scattered by South Korea in areas near the border can be seen in this picture released by North Korean state media on November 17, 2024. Photo: KCNA/AFP

South Korea awaits Han Duck-soo ruling as test case for martial law trials

Former South Korean prime minister Han Duck-soo arrives at court for his final hearing on insurrection charges on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Former prime minister Han Duck-soo (centre) arrives for the closing hearing of his case at Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

A protester wears a mask of former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol during a rally in Seoul on July 9. Photo: AP

Former first lady Kim Keon-hee arrives for her first trial hearing on corruption charges on September 24. Photo: EPA

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Asia

East Asia

A lawmaker, civil servant and the ‘tank woman’ recall the fight to protect the country’s democracy undermined by Yoon’s action


A lawmaker, civil servant and the ‘tank woman’ recall the fight to protect the country’s democracy undermined by Yoon’s action.


South Korea martial law 2024

Yoon Suk-yeol

Lee Jae-myung

A year on from South Korea’s martial law upheaval, some lives are changed forever

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}A lawmaker, civil servant and the ‘tank woman’ recall the fight to protect the country’s democracy undermined by Yoon’s action

A lawmaker, civil servant and the ‘tank woman’ recall the fight to protect the country’s democracy undermined by Yoon’s action