Korean Americans living in Atlanta watched in shock Tuesday as South Korea came under emergency martial law for the first time in more than four decades.
“Michin, michin,” a group of Korean immigrants in their 60s and 70s who were gathered at Korean Martyrs Catholic Church in Doraville repeated in Korean, shaking their heads. They could not think of any other word to describe the events unfolding thousands of miles away in Seoul, South Korea, other than the Korean word for “crazy” or “insane.”
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared emergency martial law Tuesday night in South Korea, accusing the opposition party of paralyzing the government with “pro-North Korean anti-state forces.” The president’s order sent troops and police to the National Assembly to secure the grounds and plunged the democratic nation and key U.S. ally into crisis.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
The announcement came after the opposition Democratic Party blocked Yoon’s government budget bill and submitted impeachment motions against members of his Cabinet. The National Assembly, which is controlled by the Democratic Party, voted to lift the martial law decree just hours later.
“Martial law is aimed at eradicating pro-North Korean forces and to protect the constitutional order of freedom,” Yoon said in an emergency national address televised late Tuesday in South Korea, which is 14 hours ahead Atlanta. “The National Assembly, which should have been the foundation of free democracy, has become a monster that destroys it.”
Georgia is home to more than 150,000 residents of Korean descent, according to the Consul General of Korea in Atlanta, and Korea is a vital trade partner with the Peach State. The overnight turmoil in Seoul brought back painful memories for immigrants in Georgia who still have loved ones in Korea.
It was the first martial law declaration in South Korea since 1979, following the assassination of military dictator Park Chung-hee. The events of the 1979 martial law and military coup that ensued were most recently portrayed in South Korea’s highest grossing film of 2023, “12.12: The Day,” which won best picture at South Korea’s prestigious Blue Dragon Film Awards on Friday.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Political turmoil and violence lives in the recent memory of older Koreans who lived through military dictatorships and the pro-democracy Gwangju Uprising in 1980 that is estimated to have killed about 200 civilians.
Elizabeth Kim, 72, recalled working in Seoul in 1980 when she found out through her church that police had violently clashed with student demonstrators in Gwangju, about 200 miles south of Seoul, while they were protesting against the dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan.
“The government blocked any media from reporting on the protests, so I only found out through my church after a lot of it happened,” Kim said.
Four decades later, Kim said she is dumbfounded that the Korean president would declare martial law for political reasons.
“When I first heard about the martial law, I thought something big had happened with North Korea,” she said. “Using martial law like this in this day and age? This is ridiculous. Absolutely crazy.”
Lance Lee, a partner with law firm Arnall Golden Gregory in Atlanta, said the unfolding situation in South Korea is “top of mind” for all Korean Americans worrying about their loved ones across the Pacific.
The gravity of martial law and a constitutional crisis hits close to home for Lee, whose father served as a translator for the U.S. military during the Korean War, including for Gen. Douglas MacArthur. His father, John Y. Lee, left the Korean Peninsula in 1954 following the war’s conclusion and obtained a law degree at Yale University, continuing to act as a military adviser.
“Martial law is not something that gets declared easily,” Lance Lee said. “It’s a very extreme situation.”
Lee grew up splitting his time between the U.S. and South Korea, and practiced law in Seoul for more than 20 years before joining AGG in August. He said he was constantly following news updates Tuesday and hopes for “stability and peace” without further political unrest.
“Irrespective of what’s right and what’s wrong, (political agendas) shouldn’t be something that impacts people and their daily well-being,” Lee said. “It kind of defeats the purpose of government if turmoil or pushing a certain agenda in order to benefit the public creates friction that actually harms the public.”
The White House said the U.S. was “seriously concerned” by the events in Seoul and is monitoring the situation closely, according to The Associated Press. President Joe Biden’s administration was not notified in advance of the martial law announcement and was in contact with the South Korean government, according to a spokesperson for the National Security Council.
The U.S. has about 30,000 U.S. troops, predominantly U.S. Army personnel, based in South Korea. The majority of troops are stationed at Camp Humphreys, the largest U.S. overseas military base, in the city of Pyeongtaek, approximately 40 miles south of Seoul.
South Korea is one of Georgia’s most important international business partners, ranking as the Peach State’s top foreign investor for the past three years, according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development.
Korean companies announced more than $10 billion in investments and 12,605 jobs across Georgia during the 2023 fiscal year. In recent years, multibillion-dollar Georgia projects were announced by Korean corporate giants Hyundai Motor Group, SK Group and Qcells. Earlier this year, Kia also expanded its automotive factory in West Point.
Those businesses, which employ tens of thousands of Georgians, and immigration patterns have led to explosive growth among Georgia’s Korean American population.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify how John Y. Lee left South Korea in 1954.
