In South Korea, a country ultra-connected to the Internet, YouTube channels are exacerbating the political crisis

Supporters of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol during a rally against his impeachment in Seoul, South Korea, January 4, 2025. AHN YOUNG-JOON / AP

The conflict between supporters and opponents of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, the subject of an arrest warrant for attempting to establish martial law, is playing out as much in the streets as on the Internet. In an ultra-connected and hyperactive South Korea, YouTubers and columnists from both camps have clashed and resorted without the slightest scruple to fake news since the declaration of martial law by the conservative leader on December 3, 2024.

The last strong image repeated on a loop on YouTube is that of around thirty deputies from the People's Power Party (PPP, in power) forming a chain in front of the presidency, Monday January 6, to block any attempt by the office to investigate the senior officials (CIO) or the police to arrest Mr. Yoon. The IOC tried to do so on Friday, but had to give it up after a tense face-to-face with the presidential protection service.

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The initiative of PPP elected officials followed a weekend of strong mobilization. Tens of thousands of opponents of Mr. Yoon gathered on Saturday in Gwanghwamun, not far from the Constitutional Court which must rule on the dismissal of the president voted by the National Assembly. Also in Gwanghwamun, Pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon, a major figure in the ultraconservative movement, addressed an audience of 35,000 people according to the police, 3 million according to the organizers, “to fight against anti-state forces” et “support the president’s courageous decision to end the opposition’s corruption of the Constitution”.

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