This documentary was pulled together by journalists who covered the startling events of 3 December 2024, when South Korea’s rightwing president Yoon Suk Yeol sought to declare martial law to hamstring his centre-left opposition. His coup was stymied by a remarkable gathering of citizens from across Seoul.
The film allows the action to build in concert with events on the ground – as troops and police try to shut down the legislative branch of government. Inside the assembly, meanwhile, the elected members try to gather a quorum to overthrow this brutal and surprising act. The film places us within the chaotic crowds, and is intercut with historical sequences. We see South Korea’s long history of martial law under Park Chung Hee, who was assassinated by his own security chief in 1979. And there’s the famous Kwangju Uprising, in which hundreds of workers and students died resisting military authoritarianism. This skilful montage underlines the fragility of South Korea’s still-young democracy – and more importantly the resilience of its civil society.
