What is a self-coup? South Korea president’s attempt ended in failure − a notable exception in a growing global trend

Something unexpected - but hardly unprecedented - happened in South Korea on Dec. 3, 2024. With little warning, President Yoon Suk Yeol declared emergency martial law, citing the threat from "pro-North Korean anti-state forces."

The move, which appeared more about curtailing efforts by the main opposition - the center-left Democratic Party - to frustrate Yoon's policy agenda through their control of parliament, left many South Koreans stunned. As one Seoul resident told reporters: "It feels like a coup d'état."

That interviewee wasn't far off.

As scholars of authoritarian politics and authors of the colpus ...