Impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol is the latest in a long line of leaders to have their political careers marred by scandal or meet an otherwise unfortunate end.

Yun Seok-yul introduced martial law in South Korea on December 3. It was in effect in the country for several hours - it was quickly blocked by the parliament. On December 8, Defence Minister Kim Yong Hyun was arrested.

The rapid response to Yoon’s attempts to subvert the democratic system showed that some lines had been crossed and that South Korea’s people were unwilling to accept it. This had to do with South Korea’s brutal post-war history and its hard-won path to democracy.