What was the leader wondering, according to one of the biggest questions that were raised in Seoul on Wednesday?
President Yoon Suk Yeol declared that he would impose martial law in a late-night handle that threw the government’s parliament into disarray and put the country’s commitment to democracy under the test.
Less than 24 hours later, his political prospect is in doubt as he faces ongoing impeachment proceedings and protests on the roads.
But, what happened?
In South Korea, the martial law was first implemented in 1979 as a result of a revolution that resulted in the death of the then-military king. Today’s South Korea, yet, is a far cry from from that, and the restrictive years that followed.
Despite being a steady, profitable democracy, Yoon claimed he was implementing military rule to protect the nation from evil forces. He called the opposition-controlled National Assembly a “den of thieves” that was “attempting to paralyse” the state.
Days later, he was forced to back down as angry politicians and activists gathered outside the National Assembly; the MPs made it inside and rejected the attempt.
His shocking pronouncement was actually intended to elude him from gaining the kind of hold on power that has eluded him since he won the presidency in South Korea in 2022 by the slimmest ratio in its history.
And hardly a month has passed since then without discussion.
In later 2022, he was criticised for his administration’s answer to the tragic group lover during Halloween, which killed 159 young folks in Seoul.
Finally, a scandal that keeps coming up close to the news, his wife was called in to look into after she was caught accepting a Dior handbag as a surprise.
In April this year, his group was defeated in legislative elections, leaving him in a lame-duck place. He and opposition lawmakers have been engaged in a social struggle over the budget this week alone.
His acceptance rate was below 20 % yet before he announced that he was suspending South Koreans ‘ right.
There are some facts in Yoon’s tackle as to what he was thinking.
What was soon apparent was that he was frustrated with the opposition-controlled legislature. In his Tuesday evening handle, he described the assemblage as a “monster that destroys the liberal democratic system.”
The mention of “anti-state causes” and” a threat from North Korea” suggests that he was also hoping to win support from the kind of right-wing liberals in South Korea who refer to liberal politicians as” socialists.”
However, the senator misinterpreted the politicians of his nation.
His statement served as a spooky warning of a time when many South Koreans have tried to forget. On television, newscasters were seen shaking.
In 1980, when pro-democracy protesters, many of them individuals, took to the streets of the city of Gwangju to protest at military law, the military responded with murder and around 200 people were killed.
While military law lasted three decades- 1979 to 1981- there had been martial law for years before, and it continued until 1987. And in those days, anti-government protesters were referred to as Socialist spies and detained or killed in South Korea.
However, Yoon praised autocratic common Chun Doo-hwan during his campaign and claimed that he had effectively run the government, aside from throttling pro-democracy activists.
He later admitted to being “certainly did not justify or praise Chun’s government” and was forced to apologize.
However, it does offer some insight into the government’s understanding of what constitutes power.
In North Korean political circles, there have been rumors for times that Yoon was considering enforcing martial law. In September, opposition leaders and party people declared it was a prospect. Most people rejected it as to serious of an option.
But he may well have been driven by something more: the fear of trial.
Park Geun-hye, the country’s first female president, was jailed after being found innocent of abuse of power and fraud. Her father, Lee Myung-bak, was investigated over claims he was involved in stock price adjustment. He was given a 17-year jail term in 2020 for bribery and corruption.
Another former leader, Roh Moo-hyun, took his own life in 2009 while under investigation for allegedly receiving million in money.
In South Korea, trials have almost become a social device, a threat to the opposition. This may contribute to President Yoon’s decision to take such extreme measures.
Whatever his intentions, Yoon’s career may struggle to restore from this. Additionally, he is being called to retire, and some local media reported that people of his own Citizens Power Party were considering removing him from the organization.
South Korea is a robust democracy, but it is loud. Additionally, it rejected another autocratic diktat.
After rejecting the government’s democracy’s most pressing issue since the 1980s, President Yoon will now face the judgment of a congress and the electorate.