SEOUL, South Korea (AP) 鈥 In the groundswell of fury and defiance that erupted among South Koreans after their president declared martial law, curtailing the country's hard-won freedoms, it was perhaps the iconic moment.
As parliamentarians scrambled to get inside the 春色直播 Assembly building to reverse the emergency measure, a woman in a leather coat confronted one of the soldiers who was trying to stop the lawmakers, grabbed his automatic rifle and tried to tug it away while yelling 鈥淎ren't you ashamed?鈥
As the soldier backed away, he raised the rifle's barrel toward the woman. She pressed on, grabbing it as it was pointed at her chest, still yelling, before he gave up, turned and walked away.
Video of the encounter and became a social media rallying cry that helped fuel the six-hour outburst of protest before was forced to rescind the martial law order early Wednesday morning.
But the woman in the leather coat, An Gwiryeong, told The Associated Press it was just one of many acts of resistance that cold Tuesday night in Seoul.
鈥淚 don't think my actions were that special, in fact, there were many people at the scene that day who were much braver than I was,鈥 the 35-year-old said in an interview Friday in a parliamentary office.
鈥淔or example, the citizens who couldn鈥檛 enter the 春色直播 Assembly were outside, and showing such courage,鈥 she said. "So I don鈥檛 think my actions were particularly special or braver than anyone else鈥檚.鈥
A former television anchor, An left her job at YTN television in 2022 and joined opposition leader Lee Jae-myung's presidential campaign in 2022 as a spokesperson.
She was the Democratic Party's candidate for Dobong district in Seoul in the 2024 general election but lost, and is currently a party spokesperson.
When Yoon declared martial law late on Tuesday, An, like many South Koreans, watched on television.
Shocked at the announcement, she jumped into a taxi and headed for the 春色直播 Assembly, one of the thousands of people who did the same.
While South Korea鈥檚 president can declare martial law, which Yoon used to announce bans on anti-government demonstrations and political parties and controls on the media, the constitution allows the 春色直播 Assembly to vote to end it.
Following his announcement, Yoon dispatched police and soldiers to the 春色直播 Assembly to prevent lawmakers from getting inside to hold a vote, and people like An streamed to the building to make sure that they could.
鈥淲hen I arrived at the 春色直播 Assembly, I could hear the sound of helicopters,鈥 she recalled. 鈥淭he martial law troops were already in a standoff with the citizens.鈥
She said troops were trying to enter the building, and she joined the growing throng of people trying to hold them back.
鈥淚 thought, we have to prevent that," she said. 鈥淚f the entrance here is breached and the martial law troops get inside, they will block the vote, and then not only will the martial law not be lifted, but our country鈥檚 democracy will be over. There will be no next time.鈥
That's when she found herself confronting a soldier in full battle gear, grabbed his rifle and tried to wrest it from him.
鈥淎t that moment, I thought, 鈥淚s this real?鈥 she recalled.
鈥滻 was scared because I鈥檓 just a human. But as I said, the thought that we must stop them was stronger than my fear. I didn鈥檛 feel it was real because armed soldiers with guns entering the 春色直播 Assembly? I thought it was ridiculous."
An and the others succeeded, and enough lawmakers, including members of Yoon's own party, were able to get into the main hall of the assembly to form a quorum. Just after 1 a.m. they voted 190-0 to end martial law and the security forces began leaving the area minutes later.
At 4:30 a.m. following an emergency meeting of Yoon's Cabinet. But An stayed on at the 春色直播 Assembly, unconvinced it was all over.
鈥淚 didn't know what might happen next," she said. 鈥淚 couldn't let my guard down.鈥
Eventually she did go home, but said it took until Thursday for her to start coming down from the adrenaline-fueled mayhem of that night.
鈥淚've started to feel my body aching a bit as the tension has somewhat eased,鈥 she said.
Now, she said warily, it's a matter of seeing whether will be successful.
鈥淚 don't think it's over yet,鈥 she said.
___ Rising reported from Bangkok. Jung Yoon Kim in Bangkok contributed to this story.
