kayla ortega, formerly with the defense department and now with the hyundai motor korea foundation centerhistory and public policy at the wilson center in washington, d.c. thank you so much for joining us. with your expertise. >> thank you, kristen, for having me. >> just so our viewers can understand if they're unfamiliar with the concept real quickly, what is martial law and why is it such a shocker for a democratic country to enter that state, even for just a few hours? >> no, it's a good question. i think many of us and in the west have not had this experience, thankfully. but unfortunately, korea does have a history. now, it has been over 40 years since a south korean president has enacted martial law. and what it really means is that there's a state of emergency. now, this is referenced as wartime or war like situations, which obviously is coming into contestation since korea, even though there's an ongoing crisis with north korea, is not currently in an active state of tangible war fighting scenarios, right now. and so what it would entail is if the president enacts, then there wou