Past martial law greatly harms Taiwan, must not be repeated: Lai

New Taipei, Dec. 7 (CNA) President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) told an event in New Taipei on Saturday that Taiwanese society had endured decades of harsh martial law and that such "historic mistakes" should never be repeated.

"Taiwan underwent 38 years of martial law rule, during which its societal and economic [development]... was greatly impacted, and such harm has continued to affect today's society," Lai said, referring to the period between 1949 and 1987 on Taiwan proper.

The imposition of martial law -- the longest ever imposed by a regime in history -- largely coincided with the White Terror, an era of political repression in Taiwan by the then-authoritarian Kuomintang (KMT) government from 1949 to 1992.

"[We must] learn from the lessons" and "must never repeat the historic mistakes," Lai said at an event marking the upcoming International Human Rights Day, which is observed annually on Dec. 10.

He pledged to continue promoting the work of transitional justice, focusing on restoring the truth about past state wrongdoing and "help[ing] the public understand the nature of authoritarian rule."

Upholding democracy, freedom and human rights has allowed Taiwan to build connections with other countries, the president said, adding that "we must unite ourselves and collaborate to preserve" these values.

Lai's comments came days after a social media post by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus was accused of sympathizing with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's imposition of emergency martial law in his country on the night of Dec. 3.

The post repeated some of Yoon's accusations and justifications behind the declaration, which sent shockwaves through South Korea and the world, including allegations that the Korean parliament had been "manipulated by North Korean forces."

The DPP post was deleted around 20 minutes after it was posted and replaced with another post saying the previous one "only shared international information and compared it with the domestic political situation, and [the post] absolutely did not mean support for martial law."

The KMT, now the main opposition party, has since excoriated the statement and called on Lai, who concurrently chairs the DPP, to apologize and clarify his position.

The opposition party, however, also got into hot water when its lawmaker Sra Kacaw (鄭天財) said in the Legislature on Friday that the KMT's imposition of martial law back in 1949 was meant to "protect Taiwan" from possible attacks by the Chinese Communist Party forces.