President Yoon Suk Yeol is facing impeachment after declaring – and then lifting – martial law. South Korea is often seen in the West as a beacon of democracy, but its history is marked by coups, martial law and brutal crackdowns on public protest.

On this episode, Azadeh Moshiri speaks to Jake Kwon from the BBC’s Seoul bureau, and the former head of the BBC's Korean service, Su-Min Hwang. They unpack South Korea's dramatic recent political history and look at what these events reveal about the country's democracy today.

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Producers: Peter Goffin, Tom Kavanagh, Annie Brown, Eleanor Sly, and Mariana Hernández Carrillo.

Sound engineers: Dan Ehrlich and Mike Regaard

Assistant editor: Sergi Forcada Freixas

Senior news editor: Sara Wadeson