The Seoul Guardians

In one of the most suspenseful documentaries in years, journalists inside South Korea’s National Assembly capture the unnerving chaos after the president declares martial law.

At 10.24pm on Tuesday 3 December 2024, South Korea’s embattled President Yoon Suk Yeol declares martial law in a televised address. In the six hours that follow, members of parliament scramble to the National Assembly to undo the decree. Despite a nationwide ban on protests, the public mobilises to rally at the National Assembly. And although the decree places journalists under military control, reporters inside the public hall capture the chaos that ensues.

Meanwhile, the military closes in.

Curator’s note
When democracy is in peril, journalists on the frontline are everything.

For most Australians, the martial-law crisis in South Korea began and ended overnight. Most Australians woke to the news of a crisis that had largely been resolved. The Seoul Guardians fills that temporal ellipsis with first-hand accounts of the crisis on the streets and inside the National Assembly public hall.

Filmed by journalists who found themselves inside the eye of a political storm, The Seoul Guardians is an exemplar of frontline reportage. What unfolds over a lean 80 minutes is a documentary more suspenseful than most thrillers, placing you at the centre of a worsening crisis.

The Seoul Guardians premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.