A Nation in Uniform: How Emergency Became Everyday in South KoreaSummaryAfter the 1968 shocks, South Korea rebuilt everyday life around emergency. This episode looks at how the state turned men into reserve soldiers, schools into drill grounds, and citizens into trackable numbers. It is the “hardware” of the garrison state that sat on top of last week’s “software” of laws, policing, and ideology.What’s inside1968 aftershocks: Blue House Raid and the Uljin–Samcheok landingsHardware 1: Yebigun (reserve forces) and the monthly culture of readinessHardware 1.5: Minbangwi (Civil Defense Corps), blackout drills, and why the upper age later dropped to 40Hardware 2: Gyoryeon (school military training), plus Jihyun’s memories from classHardware 3: Resident Registration Number, the 12→13-digit ID, and embodied surveillanceThe “iron triangle” recap and what slowly changed after democratization📝 Read the original full essay here🎨 See Jihyun’s graphic novel about this era hereThanks so much for listening. Get full access to Understanding Korea, One Story at a Time at yoonjiwon.substack.com/subscribe

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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