1997 Daekanese coup d'etat

1997 Daekanese coup d'etat
Type 76 tanks of the 10th Mechanised Division in downtown Tayeong
Date 9-10 July 1997 Location Daekan Result Overthrow and execution of Kwon Jung-Hoon Restoration Committee assumes power Re-introduction of Maengist policies Re-opening of relations with the west
Belligerents
Restoration Committee Pro-Maengist Party faction Ministry of State Security 6th Armoured Divsion 10th Mechanised Division Taeyong Guards Division (later) Supported by: Esgonia Great Kingdom	Kwon Government Pro-Kwon Party faction Taeyong Guards Division (initially) People's Militia Supported by:
Commanders and leaders
Man Yong-Ho Yom Dong-Wook Wu Seung-Min Chang Kwang-Seon Tu Jun-Seo	Kwon Jung-Hoon Pin Seong-Jin Yi Jung-Eun Ong Hyeon-U
Strength
30,000 DPA and MSS troops	12,000 Tayeong Guards (initially) 20,000 People's Militia
Casualties and losses
2 killed, 6 wounded	8 killed, 15 wounded
5 civillians killed, dozens wounded

The 1997 Daekanese coup d'etat, also known as the July Coup, the Cadre Coup or the Restoration Revolution, was the successful seizure of power in Daekan by the Restoration Committee and its allied forces, against Premier Kwon Jung-Hoon. The coup lasted two days with minimal fighting, which nevertheless resulted in both military and civillian casualties.

The coup was orchestrated by the Restoration Committee, a group of Party, Ministry of State Security and Daekanese People's Army officials that had been alienated by Premier Kwon's reversal of his predecessor's (Maeng Song-Hun) Hyeogsin reforms, as well as the catastrophic fallout brought about from Kwon's aggressive foreign policy, specifically the involvement in the Esgonian Civil War. The Restoration Committee was made up of reformists that had been dedicated to Premier Maeng's policies of political and economic liberalisation, as well as opening up Daekan to the west. As such, the Committee also became popularly known as the Maengist Cadre.

Background

Kwon rises to power and the Esgonian Civil War

Since his rise to power in 1990, Kwon Jung-Hoon had embarked on an aggressive form of foreign policy and military re-armament. Emboldened by the economic prosperity brought about Maeng Song-Hun's, Kwon's predecessor, reform policies of Hyeogsin (혁신; renovation), Kwon and his faction of the Communist Party sought to reaffirm Daekan's position in Eastern Ashai and the East Grey Sea. Among others, Kwon ordered the expansion of the naval re-armament and modernisation programme established by the National Defence Council in 1988, re-allocating a large portion of the government budget to the construction of new warships. Kwon also took a harsher stance against Esgonia, that was by 1993 on the verge of civil war. MSS First Directorate activity rapidly increased in the neighbouring country, with active subversion operations and support for underground left-wing organisations. Troop movements on the Esgonian border were also increased, as was the probing of Esgonian air defences by Daekanese aircraft.

The start of the Esgonian Civil War proper saw a significant amout of monetary and material support given to the communist Esgonian National Liberation Front. Advisors were also dispatched to train ENLF troops. As the war turned into a stalemate, Kwon ordered small Daekanese People's Army regulars to cross into ENLF-controlled areas, ignoring his advisors and other Party officials who advised against such a move. The government's official stance was that no DPA troops were in-country. As the ENLF started losing ground by 1994 and the Royalist faction was formed, DPA deployments intensified to the point where complete deniability was no longer possible, and as such these troops were dubbed "volunteers" and "internationalist fighters", with the DPA's precense becoming an open secret among the international community.

Return to totalitarianism

Daekanese involvement garnered a massive international reaction against the country. Arms sales and tech transfers to the nation were banned, something that severely impeded Kown's naval re-armament program. Later, trade embargoes were enacted, which had significant concequences for the rebuilding Daekanese economy. Relations with the west soured, with the Great Kingdom in particular.

As the Esgonian Civil War ended with the defeat of the ENLF and othe rebel factions, the Daekanese public too turned against the intervention as the names of hundreds of dead DPA soldiers surfaced. Veterans of the war received limited support from the government. Protests by university students and other anti-government groups, including many veterans, errupted in downtown Taeyong in March 1996. Many of the protests turned violent, with People's Police and paramilitary People's Militia forces deployed to crack them down. Kwon also turned to the Ministry of State Security and its Chairman, Yom Dong-Wook, to crack down on the dissidents. Yom obliged despite his own dislike of Kown's policies and the intervention. Hundreds were arrested, Party officials included, and many were executed. However, Yom defied orders from Kwon to carry out executions of high-profile prisoners, and sent him false reports that confirmed them. Yom reportedly stated to a collegue that "Kwon is "beheading" the Party and leading the country astray".

Potests and unnrest continued throughout the year, and publications such as the Taeyong Daily criticized the government's actions. Kwon also faced singificant intra-Party opposition. In order secure his power, Kwon gradually started to roll back the political liberalisation reforms of Hyeogsin. Media that criticized the government were shut down and their editors arrested, with laws passed to roll back the freedom of the press reforms introduced by Hyeogsin. Kwon made extensive use of the People's Militia paramilitaries, an organisation he had headed in the past and was loyal to him, to intimidate his political opponents. People's Militia forces were posted outside radio and TV stations to ensure they would not criticize the government, while they were also sent to local Party organisations across the nation for the same reason.

The Special Economic Zones established during Hyeogsin also didn't escape strongarming and raids by the People's Militia. Most notable was the raid of the Gunpo Special Economic Zone, which housed several factories of the GK-based Greenwood Heavy Manufacturing, by heavily armed People's Militia forces. The raid led to the arrest of a Daekanese factory manager and several other employeers, many of whom were GK citizens. The factory manager had been accused of treason, and was executed the next day. This caused uproar in the Great Kingdom and other nations, which condemned the action and further increased sanctions. The arrested GK nationals were later released to avoid a diplomatic incident. In addition to pressure on foreign assets, several companies that had been privatised or turned into cooperatives by Hyeogsin were brought back under direct state control.

The Restoration Committee is formed

In early June, several anti-Kwon Party members and military officials met secretely in an undisclosed location in the countryside. There, the drafted an address to the nation named "We must fight against tyrrany", which condemned Kwon's actions and labelled him a traitor to people, the Party and the nation as a whole. It was signed by the "Committee for the Restoration of Progress and People's Power", which became known as the Restoration Committee. The address was leaked to the press, but only Chegal Jin-Young's The Radical, one of the oldest newspapers in Daekan that had started as an underground left-wing print during the 30s, dared publish it. Chegal himself was a member of the Restoration Committee and a massively influential figure. Kwon was reportedly furious at the publication, but took no direct action against Chegal due to his popularity among the people and Party officials, though he openly condemned it as anti-Party propaganda, and launched an investigation to find the other members of the Committee.

The Committee was headed by Minister of Agriculture Man Yong-Ho, and other central figures included Minister of Transport Wu Seung-Min, the DPA Air Force second-in-command General Tu Jun-Seo, and DPA Ground Forces commander, General Chang Kwang-Seon. Man underlined the Committe's main objective as being to overthrow the "tyrant Kwon" and bring Daekan back to the road of reform and progress. MSS Chairman Yom's informants discovered informaton on the Committee, and he was urged by many of his suboordinates to give the information to Kwon. Instead, Yom reported nothing and decided to meet with Man, and declared to him his and the MSS's support for the Committee and any actions against Kwon. On June 15th, the Restoration Committee met again to plan the forced seizure of power from Kwon.

Events

Planning

It was decided that the date of the coup would be July 9th. This was chosen because of the DPA "Golden Flag" exercise that takes place annually at that date, which would mask troop movements as simply preparing for or participating in the exercise. General Chang had secured the support of the Taeyong Theatre Command's commander, General Yop Tae-Yeon, and it was decided that the 6th Armoured Division and 10th Mechanised Division would be used for the coup, due to the loyalty of their officers to Yop. These units were to move out of their bases to the north and west of Taeyong and enter the capital just before sunrise on the 9th. Their objectives were to block all highways leading into and out of the city, set up roadblocks on major intersections in the city proper and secure key buildings, such as the People's Militia headquarters in the Sokcho district. Chairman Yom offered the MSS 15th Directorate's special forces for the operation to capture Kwon himself, which was considered the most important part of the operation. In preperation, Yom doubled the pay of all MSS employeers and recalled all personnel from holiday. Several thousand arrest forms would be printed in secret by the MSS in the next few days days.