Thirty minutes after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, the anti-terror special forces that he dispatched to seize parliament hit a problem: their transport helicopters were not allowed into a nearby military no-fly zone.
The resulting 40-minute delay in their arrival meant lawmakers were able to get into the legislative building and vote against the martial law decree, Kim Jong-dae, previously a lawmaker from a minority party, told South Korean television on Thursday.
The confusion, attributed to a lack of communication between the martial law commanders and the air force leadership, was indicative of the helter-skelter nature of Yoon’s shortlived attempt to impose martial law.