SEOUL, Dec 3 - More than 200 South Koreans joined a tour of the National Assembly on Wednesday to view parts of the compound associated with last year's martial law crisis, including a sports field where helicopters carrying masked soldiers landed. 

The so-called "dark tour" was arranged to mark the first anniversary of the crisis, when then-President Yoon Suk Yeol sent shockwaves through the country by declaring martial law and deploying troops and police to secure parliament. 

MARTIAL LAW VOTE OVERTURNED AFTER SIX TENSE HOURS

Protesters poured onto the streets on that freezing night, and lawmakers hopped over walls to dodge security cordons before martial law was overturned by a parliamentary vote after six tense hours marked by moments of bravery, anger and confusion.    

"Why dark tour? Because today was the day when martial law was declared and (the parliament) was invaded," said Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, who acted as a guide for the participants.

During the tour, Woo showed one of the walls that he, along with other lawmakers, had scaled to reach an emergency gathering inside the parliament to vote down the martial law order.

The then-opposition leader Lee Jae Myung, who was elected president in a snap election in June, also jumped the wall and called for the public to come out for protests, as his livestreaming went viral. 

The martial law sparked one of the worst political crises in a country seen as a democratic success story.

Yoon was eventually impeached and removed from office and is now on criminal trial for insurrection along with other top administration officials. 

The ousted president has justified his martial law declaration as a "warning" to the opposition, who he accused of making the country ungovernable.

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