SecurityCode: South Korea’s attempted coup shows even robust democracies can be brought down by authoritarian rulers

Twenty four years ago, thousands of students were massacred in the Korean city of Gwanju by the country’s military regime—its own, unknown Tiananmen Square. The failure of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s bid to reimpose martial rule is being cast as proof of how robust democracy has since become in the country. The truth, however, is that it proves how fragile rights and freedoms can be, if voters don’t choose their leaders wisely.