Meet Ahn Gwi-ryeong, South Korean leader who battled armed soldiers during martial law protests

The world was left shocked on Tuesday night when South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol first declared martial law and then later withdrew it.

Amid the chaos, the video of a woman confronting soldiers entering the National Assembly has gone viral.

Ahn Gwi-ryeong, a South Korean politician, is receiving praise from all quarters after her heroic actions.

But who is Ahn? And what happened?

Let’s take a closer look:

Journalist-turned-lawmaker

As per CNN, Ahn is a journalist-turned-lawmaker.

The 35-year-old is the spokesperson for the main opposition Democratic Party.

As per Malay Mail, she is also the regional chairperson for Democratic Party of Korea’ Dobong District, Seoul.

Ahn in November was fined 700,000 won by the Seoul Northern District Court for campaigning using loudspeakers during the 22nd general election.

As per Dimsum Daily, Ahn in 2022 was on a committee supporting presidential candidate Lee Jae Myung – a firebrand lawmaker who narrowly lost to Yoon in the 2022 presidential election and the early favourite to win in 2027.

Ahn was previously an anchor on South Korean broadcaster YTN.

As per SCMP, Ahn is a vocal critic of Yoon as well as First Lady Kim Keon-hee – calling for his resignation and his wife to be investigated in a number of cases.

Kim faces multiple scandals including a luxury bag affair in which she purportedly received a Christian Dior pouch as a gift, being accused of academic plagiarism, lying about her credentials, and being involved in stock manipulation.

‘Knew we had to stop this’

Yoon made the martial law announcement on Tuesday “to safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements plundering people’s freedom and happiness”.

Shortly after, soldiers began taking to the streets and surrounded the Parliament building.

The video, taken in the early hours of December 4, shows a defiant Ahn facing down a number of armed soldiers.

“I didn’t think…I just knew we had to stop this,” Ahn told the BBC.

Ahn told the outlet she turned off her office lights at the National Assembly to avoid being detected.

By the time she reached the spot, soldiers were already in a tussle with officials, aides, and citizens.

When the soldiers began stepping forward, Ahn knew she had to act.

The video shows Ahn scuffling with a soldier and attempting to disarm him.

“Aren’t you ashamed of yourselves?” Ahn asked before demanding that the soldier “let go.”

The video shows the soldier resisting Ahn’s attempts and then pointing the gun at her before being taken away by his colleague.

The video has received over eight million hits on social media, as per SCMP.

“Honestly, I was scared at first…but seeing such confrontation, I thought, ‘I can’t stay silent,’” Ahn told BBC.

It is “heartbreaking and frustrating that this is happening in 21st Century Korea,” before breaking down in tears, she added.

Ahn’s actions received praise on social media

Yoon later reversed his declaration of martial law after the lawmakers climbed the walls of the Parliament building to get inside and unanimously voted against it.

Fallout continues

However, the fallout continues with South Korea’s opposition parties Wednesday submitted a motion to impeach Yoon.

Impeaching Yoon would require the support of two-thirds of parliament, and at least six justices of the nine-member Constitutional Court would have to endorse it to remove him from office. The motion, submitted jointly by the main liberal opposition Democratic Party and five smaller opposition parties, could be put to a vote as early as Friday.

Yoon’s senior policy advisers and Defense Minster Kim Yong Hyun offered to resign as the nation struggles to make sense of what appeared to be a poorly-thought-out stunt. The Democratic Party on Wednesday submitted a separate motion to impeach Kim, who it alleged recommended the martial law declaration to Yoon.

With inputs from agencies