By Hyonhee Shin, Cynthia Kim, Ju-min Park and Hyunjoo Jin SEOUL (Reuters) -At his confirmation hearing three months ago, South Korea's defence minister Kim Yong-hyun rejected accusations from the opposition that he wanted to impose martial law.

Last year, a political blockbuster gripped South Korea with a dramatization of a painful memory from its authoritarian past, when the assassination of President Park Chung-hee in 1979 led to a military coup and plunged the country into the iron grip of martial law.

In the uncertain hours early Wednesday, many recalled the nation’s last martial law, which came after a coup installed a military dictator and triggered a deadly uprising.