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🇰🇷 South Korea /Elections & Politics

Constitutional Scholar's Diary Recounts Year of Crisis After Martial Law Declaration

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Sources not specified Context piece
  • A constitutional scholar documented a year of constitutional crisis following President Yoon Suk-yeol's declaration of emergency martial law.
  • The book, 'In the Face of Sedition,' records the author's experiences, thoughts, and academic responses to the events of December 3, 2024, and the subsequent constitutional turmoil.
  • The author emphasizes remembering the experience not as a victory, but as a shameful yet narrowly averted defeat to foster self-reflection and reaffirm sovereignty.

A constitutional scholar's diary offers a firsthand account of South Korea's constitutional crisis, triggered by President Yoon Suk-yeol's declaration of emergency martial law on December 3, 2024. The book, 'In the Face of Sedition,' chronicles the author's experiences, academic reflections, and civic engagement during a year of unprecedented political and legal upheaval.

The author, a constitutional scholar, perceived the martial law declaration as a grave threat to the constitutional order. The work meticulously records the unfolding events, including joint government-party announcements, impeachment proceedings, the president's arrest and release, and the anxious wait for the impeachment trial's verdict. These moments, which might have faded from memory, are presented with vivid immediacy.

It was an attempt at a coup by the president, and 'sedition' as stipulated in Article 84 of the Constitution.

— Constitutional ScholarA quote from the scholar's diary describing the president's declaration of emergency martial law.

The first part of the book details the year following the martial law declaration, capturing the author's emotions and judgments as they navigated street protests, engaged in constitutional debates, and confronted the crisis as both a researcher and a citizen. The second part comprises two sections: one that uses pre-crisis columns to argue that the martial law was not an isolated incident but a culmination of repeated unconstitutional acts and abuses of power, and another that presents academic responses to new issues not adequately addressed by existing constitutional scholarship.

Ultimately, the author urges a sober reflection on the experience. Instead of viewing it as a triumph, the scholar suggests remembering it as a "shameful time for the sovereign, openly insulted by power, and a painful memory of barely avoiding defeat." This perspective, the author contends, is crucial for citizens to truly reclaim their sovereignty and learn from the ordeal.

a shameful time for the sovereign, openly insulted by power, and a painful memory of barely avoiding defeat.

— Constitutional ScholarThe author's reflection on how the nation should remember the year of constitutional crisis.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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