One of the most interesting and unsettling facts concerning President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law debacle is that Yoon and other key figures who led the unthinkable measure attended the same high school. Around Yoon, they shared personal bonds simply based on the school they attended decades ago and created a faction in the government. They then resided in an echo chamber where Yoon's absurd idea was only amplified, not challenged, leading to a fiasco. This is tribalism at its worst. It shows how a lack of diversity causes harm. And to an extent, it reveals how the political and social organization of Korea operates in a premodern manner.

It is Yoon who declared martial law. But around him, there were other key figures like former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who is said to have recommended martial law and ordered soldiers to enter the National Assembly to crack down on lawmakers. Others who were sympathetic to Yoon included former Interior Minister Lee Sang-min, former Army Defense Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung and a couple of other high-ranking military officers. What are the commonalities among them, other than their support for........

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