“You cannot break the spring flowers. You cannot stop the spring.” It is a phrase from the book “Revolution of Spring” written by Pencilo, the closest person to Aung San Suu Kyi (Suu Kyi), the State Counselor of Myanmar. 

On February 1st, 2021, about a year ago, the military of Myanmar mounted the coup d’état (coup). The large-scale protests started in succession, but the local situation is still severe even after a year. 

Last spring, the Hyowon Herald already reported the news of Myanmar twice. In the 367th issue of “Can Democracy Come Back?”, we discussed the background of the coup, and in the 369th issue of “#JusticeforMyanmar, Just This for Myanmar?”, we discussed the difficulty of Myanmar democracy establishment. 

However, on February 4th, 2022, Suu Kyi was under indictment for corruption again, and until now, the future of Myanmar’s democracy remains unclear. So, we will retrace the situation of Myanmar and show the international efforts and local circumstances. 

It is not the first military dictatorship in Myanmar. Myanmar has been a military dictatorship for a long period since 1962, after independence from Britain in 1948. However, it seemed the military dictatorship came to an end due to continuous democratic movements and the victory of NLD (National League for Democracy) in the 2015 general election. 

Myanmar was developed rapidly with high economic growth for five years under democracy, but it collapsed in the general election held on November 8th, 2021. The NLD won an overwhelming victory in this election that accounted for 83.2%, 369 of 476 seats in the total elected seat. However, the junta disallowed the election results and mounted the coup at dawn on February 1st, 2021. Moreover, they detained Suu Kyi and other senior government figures and declared a state of emergency for one year. 

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) estimate, the victims of democratic movements surpassed 500 people in March 2021. Nevertheless, Min Aung Hlaing, the army commander of the junta, and military generals held a military parade and hosted a luxurious party for the anniversary of the army foundation. On August 2nd, 2021, Hlaing exposed the plan to create a long political dynasty by appointing himself to the Prime Minister of Myanmar for a two-year term. The massive anti-junta protest continued across Myanmar on August 8th, 2021, the 33rd anniversary of the 8888 Uprising on August 8th, 1988. However, according to AAPP, the victim exceeded 1000 people, and the situation has worsened. 

Nonetheless, the citizens resisted consistently through anti-junta protests. According to the “BBC News Korea” report, activists organized the rally in which citizens knocked the pots and pans in their own houses to participate safely. This method was not a vast scale, but it became the symbol of resistance after it opened to social media and the press. 

Activists use chat apps when they cannot hold large-scale rallies in the street. They spread to small groups and organized the *flash mob protest using the chat app to gather people for a short protest quickly. 

On February 1st, a year after the Myanmar coup, Myanmar people progressed to the silent strike. The silent strike is the anti-junta protest to give the definite message of resisting the military by rejecting work. 

Unlike the hope of Myanmar citizens, on January 31st, Hlaing announced that he was extending the state of emergency by six months. Moreover, the junta makes the steppingstones for a long political dynasty, expressing their clear will of military dictatorship. 

According to the “Irrawaddy” local independent media report, Hlaing accepted the introduction of a proportional representation system in the general election scheduled in August 2023. It is to increase the political participation of several ethnic communities in an existing first-past-the-post system. Based on the analysis of political experts reported by “Irrawaddy,” about 30 of the 90 political parties of Myanmar are supposed to be a military ally, so it is estimated that the forces of the democracy camp will get lower results in the new representation system congress. 

Meanwhile, the national economy of Myanmar has also become an emergency. Cheon Ki-Hong (Prof. of Dept. of Myanmar Language, Busan ​​University of Foreign Studies), who lived in Myanmar for 20 years, pointed out that the most urgent problem that Myanmar must resolve is economic normalization. 

Prof. Cheon said, “Myanmar made 6 to 8% of economic development every year from 2016 to 2021, but now, the economic activity plummets to -23% only in one year.” 

According to the material announced by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the poor population reduced by half during 12 years from 2005 to 2017. According to “Reuters,” the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) expected that the annual economic growth rate until the third quarter would reach just one percent, under the influence of COVID-19 and the junta coup. Also, the exchange rate that the Central Bank of Myanmar notified was about 1410 Kyat per dollar when the junta mounted the coup in February last year. However, it was about 1780 Kyat per dollar last mid-February. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the real GDP growth recorded -17.9% in 2021, which is a sharp decrease. 

Prof. Cheon said, “The conflict between the junta and National Unity Government (NUG), the provisional government of Myanmar, is so severe that the citizens of Myanmar are being damaged. Because the international society cannot intervene in the grasp of power and repression to the nation of Myanmar junta, it is urgent to provide the opportunities for mediation between the junta and NUG and make the economic normalization.”

*Flash mob : The crowd act of unspecified majority that people gather in a pre-set spot, then do the promised behavior for a short time and disperse right away.