Seoul, South Korea – On Wednesday morning, many in South Korea woke up to a reality they had never even dreamed of.

The night before, the country’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, declared martial law.

In ambiguous terms, he proclaimed the need to “protect the country from North Korean communists and eliminate subversive elements,” while at the same time emphasizing the need to “rebuild the country and protect it from decay.” When Yoon sent troops to blockade the National Assembly building around midnight, he tried to stop lawmakers from interfering in his plans.

Yoon failed: MPs marched into parliament and voted to lift martial law, which ultimately only lasted two hours.

That morning, South Korea survived its first coup attempt in more than 40 years.

As the day progressed, life continued as usual for students on university campuses and office workers in city centers. However, back in front of the National Assembly building, the drama continued on Tuesday evening.

Hundreds of protesters and citizens gathered on the steps of the building to join demonstrations led by members of the opposition Democratic Party, which just hours earlier introduced a bill to impeach Yoon. They hope it will be passed by Saturday.

But the demonstrators on site didn’t want to wait that long: many called on Yoon to resign immediately.

“The president’s actions last night had no procedural legitimacy at all,” said 44-year-old Shin Byung-soo, holding a candle alongside other protesters. “He looked beyond the well-being and intelligence of our people and made unilateral decisions that had unprecedented consequences.”

Min Jun-shik, 43, who photographed the demonstrations, echoed the sentiment that Yoon “does not have the skills of a president” and wished he would “step down soon.”

Earlier in his office in Seoul, Min said most conversations between colleagues focused on “how surreal Yoon’s decision was.”

“This reminds me of a few years ago when we braved the cold and called for Park Geun-hye to resign,” Min said, referring to the country’s first impeachment of the president in 2017. Park – the President from 2013 to 2017 – was indicted and subsequently convicted by the country’s Constitutional Court on corruption charges related to an adviser’s unconstitutional influence.

“Our economy is not doing well and for many it is already difficult to earn a living. This has made the situation even worse. The won has declined significantly and our country’s reputation has suffered further damage,” Min said.

Chung Joo-shin, director of the Korea Institute of Politics and Society, said Yoon’s actions had damaged South Korea’s status in the world.

“When foreigners talk about South Korea, they are reminded of the various democratic achievements throughout the country’s history that have led to unprecedented growth,” Chung said. However, Yoon’s imposition of martial law “shows that South Korea still has a long way to go to become an advanced democratic society.”

“Faced with record low approval ratings due to rising inflation in the country and the regularity of scandals during his presidency, Yoon tried to find a way out,” Chun added. “But his plan had no legitimate justification and was not fully thought through.”

The result: Yoon, whose popularity ratings have fallen to 25 percent in recent surveys.

In recent polls, the rate fell to 25 percent, resulting in the shortest martial law in the country’s history.

It is a history full of such proclamations, although in the past they were expressed only during military dictatorships. Those decades of military rule only ended in 1988 after years of struggle for democracy, including during the Gwangju Uprising, a mass protest that broke out in the southern city of Gwangju on May 18, 1980. There were fears that hundreds of demonstrators had been killed in a crackdown by security forces.

For Jeon Hyun-jung, 33, whose mother worked in Gwangju during the student protests, the thought of the return of martial law made it difficult to sleep even late Wednesday.

“When I called my friend in Seoul, I heard helicopters and armored vehicles moving through the streets on her phone,” Jeon remembers. “I was really afraid that soldiers might use violence against people.”

But after the National Assembly voted to lift martial law, she went to sleep, trusting that things would return to normal the next morning.

“I think a lot of my South Korean friends fell asleep like me. Rather, it was my friends from outside the country who reached out to me in shock,” Jeon said. “They couldn’t believe this was happening to South Korea.”

Lee Gil-bok, who lives in northern Paju province, also slept relatively peacefully, confident the situation would not worsen overnight. But Tuesday’s events have made her think again about the prospect of sending her grandchildren abroad.

“I feel like there are no leaders in the country these days that children can look up to,” said the 65-year-old. “Politicians only care about protecting their own interests and have given up their reason in the process. We can’t really trust anyone who has power anymore.”