Posted on 07/15/2018 12:05:42 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
A group of army generals rolling tanks and troops into Seoul to seize power. Paratroopers firing at large crowds calling for democracy. Tanks and armored vehicles stationed at universities to intimidate student protesters.
Such scenes of military intervention in South Korea have been nonexistent since the country achieved democracy in the late 1980s. But revelations this past week of a document showing the military drafted plans to mobilize troops to suppress protests last year have struck a nerve among people in one of Asia’s most vibrant and wealthiest democracies. Some allege the plans even included a scenario for a coup.
The memories of brutal, military-backed dictatorships that imprisoned, tortured and executed dissidents remain vivid to many South Koreans. But most experts say the actual chances for another coup in South Korea are extremely low. A look at the explosive revelations and why a coup is nearly impossible to pull off today....
(Excerpt) Read more at wtop.com ...
You were there then? So was I ... I was assigned to HHC, 2nd Infantry Division, up in Tongduchon ...
Special Troops, I Corps, Camp Red Cloud. I was a hotline operator (Intel Analyst) for G-2 in the bunker up on the mountain. Several years later I was at the DTOC Support Element for 2nd Division G-2 in the little MI compound at the aviation battalion on Camp Casey across from the PX and gym.
I got a whiff of tear gas in 1987. I’ll aiways remember the line of riot police in their all black uniforms with Lexan shields and samurai/Darth Vader helmets!
“I got a whiff of tear gas in 1987”
I got mine in 1998.
It wasn’t at boot camp if that’s what you mean. There was a student protest in Seoul while I was there for business.
“There was a student protest in Seoul while I was there for business.”
Same here except I would characterize them as communists.
We were uphill from the marchers just outside of the university gate.
I was a journalist, Eighth Army at Yongsan in 1974. In an attempt to assassinate Park Chung Hee, they killed his wife Yuk Young-soo. We went on full alert. Scary times.
I’m sure your description is more accurate!
We thought that if anything happened they would fire the gas into the crowd of marchers.
Wrong.
As they approached the university the fire in front of marchers directly at where we were standing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WUSA_(TV)
https://www.wusa9.com/
ff
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.