The quote is interesting to me given the context; a Coup D’Etat was occuring in South Korea by the military, but only a small number of generals were in on the plan (referred to as the Hanahoe). The Hanahoe were badly outnumbered, but just needed to reach the capital first to avoid a full blown war.

Most of the brigades that could reach the capital before the Hanahoe were convinced to stand down, but Jang Tae-won was having none of it and intended to fight. Unfortunately for him, he was immediately betrayed by his Hanahoe subordinates, and couldn’t mobilize in time either.

The coup was a success, and the next 3 presidents would be generals from the coup.