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Is South Korean Democracy Threatened?

Ema Nevřelová

January

South Korea, Japan and Taiwan are often presented as the ‘perfect’ Western-style democracies—digitized, capitalist, stable—but this illusion of flawlessness is slowly crumbling. The South Korean population is aging, chaebols (large conglomerates owned by wealthy families such as Samsung) consistently face scandals regarding worker mistreatment and politicians are no less fallible than in any other democratic system. Therefore, the declaration of martial law by the President of South Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol, on Dec. 3, 2024, confirms what can no longer be ignored; democracy can easily be challenged if there is no will to sustain it. 


While the South Korean crisis appears unprecedented, this East Asian state has been grappling with impeachment, corruption scandals and low approval ratings of presidents for some time now. Yet the current political turmoil seems to have caught by surprise not only South Korean society but also the international community. While the situation is still developing, the media focus has been shifting away from South Korea, leaving an opportunity to delve into an analysis of the events before and after the declaration of martial law.

On Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, at 14:51 GMT (that is shortly before midnight in South Korea), President Yoon declared emergency martial law, meaning the military had temporary authority over civilians and the government. The President addressed the nation on national television, claiming: “The martial law is aimed at eradicating pro-North Korean forces and to protect the constitutional order of freedom.” The Martial Law Command prohibited the activities of the National Assembly, which has the constitutional right to overturn the presidential command. Nevertheless, the politicians rushed to the National Assembly to lift the martial law as the building of the Assembly was, almost immediately after the declaration, controlled by the military and the police. One of the opposition Democratic Party’s representatives, Lee Seong-Yoon, said he had to climb over a fence to get into the Assembly Hall, as he was denied entry despite showing the police his identification as a member of the National Assembly. 


This dystopian-like event technically ended when all of the 190 lawmakers present voted to lift the law. Of the 190 lawmakers, 18 were members of Yoon’s own People Power Party. However, it took President Yoon and the cabinet another three hours to confirm the National Assembly’s decision. Remarkably, it all happened during the night and only lasted for about six hours, yet it brought South Koreans to the streets, politicians to the National Assembly and the country into sudden uncertainty.


Before looking at what followed in the days after the martial law, there is an important political background that likely led to the events of December 3. First of all, President Yoon, a conservative People Power Party member, was elected to office in 2022. He won the election only by 0.73% and his approval rate was mostly decreasing, strikingly to a minimum of 11% after he declared martial law. Previously, his presidency was  marked by the corruption scandal of his wife, Kim Keon-hee, who accepted a Dior bag from a pastor. She was also accused by the opposition of involvement in stock price manipulation. President Yoon has consistently rejected and even vetoed investigations of his wife, fueling public and political outrage. 


The polarization between the opposition and the governmental People Power Party has therefore been growing for some time now, and deepened over the budget bill for 2025. The Democratic Party’s proposal, which was passed unilaterally on Nov. 29, 2024, in a committee vote, sought to reduce special activity funds for the presidential office, prosecution and police. This was condemned by the People Power Party as “politically motivated.” The deadline for the approval of the budget was deferred to Dec. 10, 2024. Similarly, for the United States, if the bill were to not pass after the date, it would mean disarray in public welfare and government. Therefore, when Yoon declared martial law, it was likely an attempt to discredit the opposition as he accused the Democratic Party of being “pro-North Korean and plotting rebellion.” Yoon based his presidential campaign on a rather radical stance against North Korea, likely hoping that his reputation would make the accusations more credible.


The resolute rejection of martial law by many South Koreans is possibly related to South Korea’s history of military regimes that seized power by orchestrating coup d’états. The last martial law declared in South Korea was in 1979 after the death of dictator Park Chung-hee when Major General Chun Doo-hwan took over the government. The country only transitioned to democracy in 1987; many South Koreans still have a painful recollection of the tumultuous years. To add to the public sentiment, even some of Yoon’s own party members rejected the declaration of martial law. Therefore, after the martial law was lifted Yoon’s impeachment followed unsurprisingly. 


On Dec. 4, 2024, the Democratic Party filed charges of treason against President Yoon along with the Defense Minister and Minister of Interior and Safety. At the same time, the six parties in the opposition submitted a motion to impeach President Yoon to the National Assembly. The National Assembly has 300 members and, in order to impeach a president, two-thirds of the members’ votes are needed. The vote of impeachment also has to take place no later than 72 hours after the motion is filed. Once the impeachment resolution is passed, it has to be presented to the Constitutional Court which has 180 days (around 6 months) to either uphold or reject the resolution. If the resolution is upheld, new presidential elections are held within sixty days. The presidential mandate in South Korea is five years and can only last one term, meaning that if Yoon’s impeachment is upheld by the Constitutional Court, he will be unable to run for the presidency again. 


The impeachment vote was held on December 7, 2024, but without success. With the ruling People Power Party having a majority of 208 seats,  the opposition did not secure enough votes to pass the impeachment. However, that did not stop the opposition from attempting again. 


On Dec. 9, 2024, the Ministry of Justice announced a travel ban on President Yoon, ensuring that he would not be able to leave the country. On Dec. 13, 2024, the situation took a turn when another motion to impeach President Yoon was filed and the vote was set on December 14, 2024. Despite the fact that the ruling party has maintained its position and opposed the impeachment, the motion passed by 204 votes. Given South Korea’s presidential system, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo from the People Power Party became the acting president for the period in which the Constitutional Court was deciding about impeachment. Yet, the polarization of political parties manifested further when Han was also impeached on Dec. 27, 2024. This time the Speaker of the National Assembly Woo Won-shik announced that a supra-majority (two-thirds of all members) would not be needed to impeach the acting president. Instead, only 151 votes were necessary to impeach Han, making it easy for the opposition to oust him.


The decision came after Prime Minister Han blocked the appointment of three judges to Korea’s Constitutional Court. His decision was rather controversial as South Korea’s Constitutional Court consists of nine judges—as of now, there are only six. Having only six serving judges would be a possible advantage for Yoon and the People Power Party as they would need only one judge to oppose the impeachment for the resolution to be rejected. The opposition, on the other hand, deemed it more presumable that Yoon would be impeached if the original number of judges was restored. To add to South Korea’s firsts, Han was the first acting president to be impeached since 1987 when South Korea became a democracy. Unlike suspended president Yoon, Han has vowed to comply with the resolution to “not add to the chaos.” As of now, the new acting president has become the former finance minister Choi Sang-mok.


Furthermore, on Dec. 31, 2024, a court in Seoul issued an arrest warrant against Yoon as he had been called for questioning three times regarding the charges against him for inciting insurrection and abusing power but failed to appear every single time. According to the arrest warrant, the investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials had time to arrest Yoon until Jan. 6, 2025. In opposition, Yoon’s legal team claimed that declaring martial law was within the president's constitutional right and the arrest was unrighteous. The investigators have previously been denied entry by the Presidential Security Service, which set the tone for any future attempts to get to Yoon. 


On Jan. 3, 2025, the anti-corruption team was blocked by around 1200 protesters who created a physical blockade of the presidential compound. Some were even seen lying on the ground and on top of each other. Inside the compound was the Presidential Security Service, further blocking the investigators from entering the site. The execution of the arrest warrant was called off as “it was determined that the execution was effectively impossible due to the ongoing standoff.”


The arrest warrant expired on Jan. 6, 2025, but was reissued the next day, and was valid for another week. Yet another problem is that the anti-corruption team does not have sufficient equipment to execute the warrant, especially as the presidential compound is not only surrounded by Yoon’s supporters but also by physical barricades such as buses and barbed wires. The police, who are far better equipped for the arrest, have been somewhat hesitant to take over the arrest from the anti-corruption team. This is likely due to the South Korean society’s already heightened sensitivity over the abuse or overreach of power. 


Another update about President Yoon was on Jan. 15, 2025, when the anti-corruption team gathered around 1000 officers, climbed over the buses in front of the presidential compound and cut through the barbed wires. At that moment, President Yoon became the first South Korean president to be arrested  while still technically in office. Before the president's arrest, he released a video claiming: “I decided to appear before the CIO, even though it is an illegal investigation, in order to prevent any unsavory bloodshed.” However, the investigators later remarked that Yoon had not said anything during the questioning. Yoon’s lawyers insist on the “illegality” of the questioning as they believe the Corruption Investigation Agency for High-ranking officials does not have the authority to investigate the insurrection charges brought against the suspended president by the opposition.


Yet still, on Jan. 26, 2025 Yoon was indicted for insurrection by the Prosecution Office as the prosecutors were running out of time during which they could keep Yoon in custody. Moreover, insurrection is one of the few charges that the South Korean president is not immune to and, in the case that Yoon is found guilty, he can face life in prison or even a death sentence, although that is unlikely, as the last execution was carried out in 1997. 


Yoon’s supporters are often seen with South Korean and United States flags suggesting their support not only for Yoon but for President Donald Trump. The U.S. influence on South Korea is undeniable and as Trump is behaving even more chaotically than during his first presidency, the events in South Korea could develop in any direction in the following days and months. Moreover, the approval ratings of the suspended President Yoon have been increasing in the past few weeks. This is mostly because the opposition seems to be contributing to the chaos more than providing solutions resulting in the greater unification of conservative voters. Nevertheless, Yoon has stated that he will accept the Constitutional Court's decision even if it will lead to his definitive impeachment. This is a positive reassurance for the future of South Korean democracy.


Polarization of society and the rise of far-right rhetoric can very well be found in many other democracies, but South Korea is an example of two things in particular: an extreme attempt at suppressing the opposition and functioning democratic institutions. While the declaration of martial law came as a shock, the South Korean National Assembly emerged as a powerful check on the president’s executive power. Even though the situation is still very much chaotic, the South Korean politicians under the pressure of the public avoided democratic backsliding or a violent change of regime. South Koreans’ belief in democracy might be even more powerful than the illusion we are sometimes being fed about democracy as a ‘perfect’ system. The South Koreans showed the world that democracy is still something worth standing up for.


Photo credits: Republic of Korea, Flickr

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