6 hours under martial law in Seoul: On the ground from the protests outside the National Assembly building

This is less of a traditional news story, and more of an on-the-ground report from someone who was at the protests. I’m posting it because I think it captures a certain feeling that we could all do with. It’s an engaging look not just into Korean popular and political culture, but also into the romantic element of protests for freedom and democracy. I think many of us that live in countries that have not known tyranny in living memory take freedom for granted, and forget that it is a constant project requiring the efforts of every generation to maintain. Many of us can go on and on about the benefits of democracy and liberalism from a political science perspective, but we could all do with more of a deep emotional attachment to that most precious thing: liberty.

This article is sort of a more structured rendition of the author’s live coverage of the event while drunk in the early morning. If you would like to read the raw account of it, [here](https://bsky.app/profile/sarahjeong.bsky.social/post/3lcfz2p6e2s2d) is the link to the Bluesky thread. I’m linking to a post midway through because there is a slight divergence in the thread at this point and linking from the very beginning only shows the much shorter branch.

!ping DEMOCRACY

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