The irony of a historical convergence

It is remarkable how historic events converge at times into a deep sense of irony.

- LEE KYONG-HEE

President Yoon Suk Yeol's self-coup via martial law order was not only ill-conceived, it eclipsed what should have been a week of joyous national celebration of Han Kang, the first Korean to receive the Nobel Prize in literature.

Yoon's rash gambit on December 3 echoed the strong-arming of democracy on another December night 45 years ago when Gen. Chun Doo-hwan and his Army cohorts staged a coup d'état. Six months later, they massacred protesters in Gwangju, Han's hometown. In her novel, "Human Acts," Han delves deeply into the pain and suffering inflicted on individuals by state violence during the democratic uprising in Gwangju in the spring of 1980.

Sales of "Human Acts" rocketed after the 2024 Nobel Prize in literature was announced. With the brutal scenes of the massacre freshly inculcated in their minds, many readers must have shuddered at the possibility of similar atrocities recurring today. Particularly, the younger generations must have deemed it unthinkable to live under military rule, with their basic rights and freedoms restricted for unjustifiable reasons.

Who would have imagined that South Korea, arguably an advanced democracy with a thriving economy and vibrant popular culture, would again face terror and bloodshed under military rule? Who could have expected its democratically elected president to take such a risky action to suppress his political opponents? Most Koreans thought they had long passed such a dark chapter.