Raising the index finger, middle finger, and ring finger is used as a signal to represent rebellion and revolution in the The Hunger Games series. This signal has been utilized in reality as well: by Thais to express their objectionto the Thai military coup, and recently, by Myanmar protestors as a sign of resistance to the Myanmar military. On February 1, the military overthrew the democratic Myanmar government in a coup. The Myanmarese people have become enraged at this threat to democracy and have joined in nonviolent protests against the military authority.

Since 1962, Myanmar’s military has been the dominant political power, resulting in Myanmar citizens endeavoring to achieve democracy through various ways. Consequently, in 2008, the military established a new constitution that assigns25 percent of parliamentary seats to the military and the rest through an election. In the 2015 general election, the political party National League for Democracy (NLD) won by a landslide, and the military conceded power, contrary to the citizens’ worried predictions that they would ignore the results. Likewise, in the 2020 general election, NLD won by a wide margin and secured a significant portion of the seats in parliament.

Current Situation in Myanmar

Following the 2020 general election, Professor Kim Seung Won (Department of Myanmar Languages, Busan University of Foreign Studies) stated that the military perceived NLD’s successive political victories as a threat. Moreover, it was concerned about potential national support for a constitutional amendment that would no longer assign 25 percent of the parliamentary seats to the military.

Therefore, on February 1, the first day of Myanmar’s new congress, the military staged a coup, thus disregarding the results of the 2020 general election. The military declared a state of national emergency and detained key personnel, including Aung San Suu Kyi, a leader of Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement as well as former State Counsellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs. With rage towards the military’s unilateral actions, nationwide protests began. Professor Park Hyun-Yong (Department of Commerce and Trade, Kyung Hee University) further explained that since a relevant investigation already proved that there was no fraudulence in Myanmar’s 2020 general election, the people of Myanmar had no reason to see legitimacy in the military’s coup.

Referring to it as “the bloodiest day” of the protests, the United Nations’ (UN) special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, announced that 38 Myanmar protestors had been killed on March 3 after the well-armed military opened fire on protestors. The situation in Myanmar remains dire as it has been reported that the military continues to harass citizens late at night to search for anti-military protestors, and tear gas is fired at protestors. Furthermore, it has been reported that in an attempt to regain control, the military is torturing numerous people, including teenagers.

The overthrow of Myanmar’s democratic government has been internationally denounced. In particular, as the self-imposed guardian of democracy, the United States (U.S.) declared the Myanmar military’s actions to be a coup d’état and threatened to withdraw foreign aid and impose additional economic restrictions on Myanmar if the coup continued. On the other hand, China seems to have adopted a passive attitude towards the situation in Myanmar.

Myanmar was one of the few countries that immediately accepted the establishment of The People’s Republic of China in 1949, and Myanmar’s military has long had a pro-China attitude. Therefore, many Myanmarese believe that China may have been the power behind the 2021 coup. Although China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin has denied this allegation, anti-Chinese sentiment has spread in Myanmar.

Myanmar — a Buddhist Nation

There have previously been protests against the military government for reasons such as incompetence. Unlike these protests, however, Professor Kim argued that the current situation is a result of the Myanmar people’s resentment at being deprived of democracy by the military, as well as a religious violation. Myanmar is a Buddhist nation, with Buddhists accounting for 86 percent of its population; its people strongly value Dhamma, the teachings of Buddha, which highlight the significance of virtue and justice. According to the Korean newspaper Hankyoreh, Myanmarese people believe that the military’s overthrow of the government, chosen by the nation, is A-Dhamma, which means injustice or evil.

Additionally, Buddhist monks in Myanmar have historically demonstrated pro-governmental tendencies and intermediated between the government — mainly the military — and its citizens, which helped to establish the authority of the government. Contrary to their traditional role in politics, young monks have started to denounce the military and have joined the demonstrations, allowing the protests to grow even stronger. Professor Park emphasized that these nationwide, large-scale protests are unprecedented, showing that Myanmar’s strong desires not to return to the old system of military rule.

Relation to Korea

The pro-democracy movement in Myanmar is reminiscent of Korea’s history. In particular, the 2021 Myanmar protest and the Gwangju Democratization Movement that occurred in 1986 appear similar, especially in that armed soldiers indiscriminately assaulted and shot at unarmed citizens. The Korean song March for the Beloved, written for the victims of the Gwangju Democratization Movement, was translated into Burmese and has resonated throughout Myanmar, increasing Korean sympathy towards Myanmar’s present situation.

Therefore, it was especially shocking when, according to the report “Economic Interests of the Myanmar Military” released by a fact-finding committee of UN, six Korean companies were revealed to have been, in a way, supporting Myanmar’s military. In particular, Pohang Iron and Steel Company (POSCO) has provided crucial financial support for Myanmar’s military. Many Koreans have been disappointed by POSCO, and the Green Party publicly denounced POSCO on February 22.

While the people of Myanmar hope to face a democratic future, their internal situation is a difficult hardship to overcome. Worldwide support for the Myanmarese and sanctions against the military government are needed to help Myanmar find their much-needed and much-deserving page called democracy without further sacrifice.