Outbreak and suppression of a self-coup in a consolidated democracy: South Korea’s 2024 experience

Abstract This essay examines the outbreak and suppression of a self-coup in South Korea in 2024. It focuses on the critical period between the declaration of martial law on the night of December 3 and its termination in the early hours of December 4, explaining the background, outbreak, and suppression of the self-coup through the strategic actions of actors and the historical legacies. The self-coup emerged in the context of a narrowing political base of the presidency, deteriorating everyday economic conditions, and changes in presidential control over the military. Following electoral defeat and growing political pressure, the president declared martial law by mobilizing military forces. Its suppression resulted from a cumulative interaction between coup-initiating and opposing actors. Opposition politicians and citizens rapidly gathered at the National Assembly, enabling the vote that legally and institutionally terminated martial law. The coup initiators chose a time and date that facilitated resistance, while military units showed limited compliance when confronted with unarmed civilians. The abolition of the garrison decree after the 2016 impeachment left an institutional legacy, while the historical legacy of the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising provided politicians and citizens with an interpretive and normative resource for understanding the situation and acting despite risks.