South Korean Curfews in the 1970s

The more I read Letters From South Korea, the more I feel as if I am reading the ranting and ravings of anti-government dissidents. But then I suppose this is to be expected, given the mood of the times and the nature of those very letters.

For instance, when discussing about the midnight curfews, an excerpt suggested that such night-to-dawn curfews allowed the government to "freely commit injustices while the people are not on the streets."

The excerpt added: "Order is maintained to protect the bandit, which is really frightening when the bandit is your own government. Illegal manipulations of the elections, for example, are largely done during curfew times when the people are confined to their homes. When the people are wholly powerless and the government almighty, then all 24 hours of each day are like a curfew."