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.

By Hyonhee Shin, Cynthia Kim, Ju-min Park, Hyunjoo Jin SEOUL (Reuters) -At his confirmation hearing three months ago, South Korea's defence minister Kim Yong-hyun rejected accusations from the opposition that he wanted to impose martial law.

For an astonishing six hours today, South Korea underwent an attempted self-coup by its unpopular president, Yoon Suk Yeol, only to see the South Korean people force him to back down as they reasserted the strength of their democracy.