Park Chung Hee

The last time it was used was in 1979, after the assassination of long-term military ruler Park Chung Hee during a coup.

That’s one indication of the deep social conservatism of an era of rebuilding after the Korean War, which was led by strongman Park Chung Hee.

In 1975 under Park Chung Hee, dozens of so-called dissidents were rounded up under the law and charged with taking part in communist activities - eight of them were executed within a day.

North Korea was a source of tension and so too was South Korea under its authoritarian leader, Park Chung Hee.

In 1968, commandos from Unit 124 of what was then just called the Reconnaissance Bureau got within several hundred meters of the South Korean presidential palace, with orders to kill the then president, Park Chung Hee.