Unless viewers are already in the know, what The Seoul Guardians does is look back at a crisis that took place in South Korea on December 3, 2024, when then-President Yoon Suk Yeol declared emergency martial law and attempted a self-coup. He accused the political opposition of collaborating with North Korea, and in order to prevent lawmakers from entering and voting to lift martial law, he ordered police and military forces to seal off the National Assembly.
To an outsider, this was a moment that changed how the world looked at this nation. Whether outsiders reacted with xenophobia or something much worse, there are insights to be had. Broadcast journalists turned directors Kim Jong-woo, Kim Shin-wan, and Cho Chul-young documented everything, cinéma vérité style, and what’s presented is bold. The people with the power to lift martial law were scaling walls and roofs. A quorum must be made in order to get anywhere, and when push comes to shove, that’s when this work starts to earn its wings.
Continue reading “Is The Seoul Guardians a Shocking Thriller or a History Lesson?”