A participant of a rally in Daejeon holds a sign urging President Yoon Suk Yeol to "get out" (meaning step down) over his short-lived martial law declaration, Saturday. Yonhap

President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law declaration and the ensuing fiasco have significantly impacted the lives of many Koreans, mostly negatively. Despite the decree being lifted just six hours later and the National Assembly passing a motion to impeach him, the traumatic memory of those events still lingers for many people.

Hong, a 24-year-old student residing in Seoul, was in bed and on her phone when Yoon suddenly declared emergency martial law at 10:28 p.m. on Dec. 3.

"At first I thought it was fake news, then I saw (posts of) people going to the National Assembly on social media. The fear combined with the urge that I had to go there and eventually, I left home," she said.

When she arrived at the Assembly and joined the crowd, she heard the sound of a helicopter. Looking up, she saw a military helicopter overhead, and immediately her mind went back to the Gwangju pro-democracy movement 44 years ago. She thought, "Maybe they will shoot us, just like they did before."

"Now that I think about it, I was in a state of mental panic. I thought I could die if martial law had not been lifted. I gave my mom's contact information to my friends, saying, 'If you can't contact me by tomorrow morning, please let her know.'"

Since then, Hong has joined protests calling for Yoon's impeachment whenever possible, braving freezing temperatures.

Although the Assembly voted to pass the impeachment motion, she still gets startled by any sound resembling a helicopter. She also struggled to study for her final exams, thinking, "What is the use of assignments when the situation is like this?"

"Since the martial law incident, my daily life has been ruined, and I couldn't sleep for days. My depression worsened, and I want to claim real mental damages," she said.

Those who did not face the soldiers on Dec. 3 are also experiencing psychological pain.

Cho, 33, took the morning train from Busan to participate in a rally in front of the Assembly on Dec. 14, when the parliamentary impeachment vote was held. He cited anxiety and sleeplessness as symptoms he experienced in the aftermath of the martial law declaration.

"I just remembered that I left a lot of malicious comments about Yoon Suk Yeol and Kim Keon Hee on the internet and I got scared thinking that I could be dragged and imprisoned somewhere under martial law. I learned that democracy was the foundation of a peaceful daily life," he said.

"Martial law was lifted, but I kept thinking about the possibility of a second martial law. Even when I went to bed, I stayed up all night checking the news. I hadn't taken any depression pills for a while, but I couldn't sleep after this happened. I ended up going back to the hospital."

Like Hong and Cho, many people who suffered directly or indirectly from the martial law incident are demanding an apology from Yoon, citing symptoms of "martial law trauma," such as anxiety, sleeplessness, anger, stress, and poor concentration.

Protesters take part in a rally in central Seoul, Saturday, to demand President Yoon Suk Yeol's resignation and arrest over his short-lived martial law declaration. Yonhap

According to psychiatrists, a growing number of patients have visited mental health clinics recently, complaining about anxiety, anger and depression after the martial law fiasco.

"Many psychiatrists say that among those who visit hospitals, many report psychological shock, saying, 'I can't focus on work and only keep watching the news,' and 'Could this trigger a war?'" said Baek Jong-woo, a professor of psychiatry at Kyung Hee University Hospital.

Kim Hyun-soo, a professor of psychiatry at Myongji University Hospital and chair of the Korean Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, said the number of people reporting anxiety and sleeplessness has increased significantly recently.

"They worry, 'What will happen to the country?'" Kim said.

"When psychiatrists shared their experiences after the declaration of the emergency martial law, many patients came in unable to sleep, and parents who had sent their sons to the military were deeply worried that their children might get caught up in this situation," Kim said.

Given the circumstances, some individuals have decided to seek legal compensation from the president.

A group of citizens began recruiting people to file a class action suit against Yoon for mental damage. On Dec. 10, they said 105 plaintiffs had filed a lawsuit with the Seoul Central District Court, claiming compensation of 100,000 won ($68) per person.

They said Yoon should provide compensation for the fear and mental damage caused by his martial law declaration.

"The unconstitutional emergency martial law declaration and rebellion violated people's rights to establish a constitutional system under the principles of national sovereignty and representative democracy guaranteed by the Constitution, and they threatened people's lives and well-being," the group said.

A second group of plaintiffs, consisting of 10,060 people, also plans to file a similar class-action lawsuit in the near future.