The president of South Korea appeared unexpectedly on television at 10.23pm on December 3rd 2024.
A grim-faced Yoon Suk Yeol claimed that the opposition-controlled parliament had become a "monster" threatening liberal democracy.
He declared martial law,
saying it was the only way to eradicate the "shameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces pillaging the freedom and happiness of our people".
During his speech, which lasted just six minutes, soldiers in fatigues made their way to the National Election Commission headquarters outside Seoul.
They were in search of non-existent evidence of fraud in the vote that had given the opposition control of the legislature earlier that year.
CCTV footage shows the armed men glowering at rows of computer servers, as if the data posed a threat.
At the cabinet meeting that preceded Yoon's announcement, most members opposed his decision.
One person who was there told me that the foreign minister warned Yoon
that he would "endanger all of South Korea's achievements over the past 70 years"
most notably its remarkable transformation from an impoverished dictatorship into a rich democracy
that produces everything from world-bewitching pop music to cutting-edge semiconductors.
Minutes after Yoon's declaration, Lee Jae Myung, the leader of what was then the largest opposition party, the Democratic Party (DP),
started broadcasting live from the back of a car, the glow of his smartphone illuminating his face.
"Although it is late, you, the people, must protect this country," he said.
"Democracy is collapsing."
Thousands answered the call and gathered outside the National Assembly, South Korea's parliament.
Lee's grainy livestream continued as he scaled the parliament's walls and entered its main debating chamber.
He was followed by a steady trickle of other parliamentarians, who had walked straight past the troops massed outside.
The atmosphere at the National Assembly felt "dangerous and tense", according to one member of the DP who was present.