Last year, a political blockbuster gripped South Korea with a dramatization of a painful memory from its authoritarian past, when the assassination of President Park Chung-hee in 1979 led to a military coup and plunged the country into the iron grip of martial law.

South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol faced parliamentary moves to impeach him after he sent heavily armed forces into Seoul's streets with his baffling and sudden declaration of martial law that harkened to the country’s past dictatorships.

Martial law was first used in 1948 by South Korea's first president Syngman Rhee as he cracked down on communist uprisings, killing thousands. It was also invoked during the 1950-53 Korean War to allow South Korea to use its military to stifle anti-government protests.