For many South Koreans, this week’s dramatic events were their first real-life brush with the nation’s history of military dictatorship. That’s why millions turned to a year-old movie on Netflix and a literary classic to try and make sense of the turmoil.
The film "12.12: The Day," which debuted in 2023 to 13 million moviegoers, has been the No. 1 Korean film on the streaming platform since Dec. 3, when President Yoon Suk Yeol stunned the nation by imposing martial law. The 141-minute blockbuster, which has been on Netflix since May, depicts the events surrounding a Dec. 12 coup in 1979.
The Asian country is still dealing with the aftermath of Yoon’s Tuesday evening decision, which reignited memories of the movement led by Gen. Chun Doo-hwan that created a dictatorship and culminated in the bloody Gwangju Uprising of 1980.
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