I was here 1959 to 1962. The Coup was pretty much transparent to us at Osan. I wished I could have gone to Seoul with my camera, but we were confined to the Base for the few days when the Military Coup put down the rioters and Yi Sung Man (Syngman Rhee) and his European wife fled the country. I do not recall any important changes in my life outside the base because of Martial Law, except the curfew and government vehicle movements may have been more strictly enforced. I still went pheasant hunting locally a lot! Wearing a fatigue uniform was the norm; I carried a shotgun and rode free on the train! When I saw a good spot, I got off and went hunting! Everyone was friendly to Americans.
We wore uniforms at all times off base in those days. Maybe that would be a good thing for newly assigned soldiers these days! Say, all those under 21!
It might make it easier to keep them in line! It might even remind them that they are representatives of the US, and to act accordingly! I sort of like the idea!

I have read general history books and I've taken general survey courses in Korean history, so I have some idea about this time period, but my academic interest was not in modern Korean history, so I guess I just glossed over this stuff before....

...because I was surprised at the amount of killed and wounded with this event.

I guess when I read about "riots" and "violence", my mind automatically clicked over what I'd seen in Korea or could remember from images from the late 1980s riots.

It didn't really register to me before looking at these articles how bloody it was.

I mean, compared to some nations when such civil unrest happens, the bloodshed here might be considered tame, but it was bloodier than I had given credit to before now...

I bet those were interesting times to be a foreigner in Korea back then!!