Far-right and Trump-inspired South Koreans defend President Yoon

The 6,000 pro-Yoon protesters, who braved the bitter cold at dawn to try to prevent the suspended president’s arrest, could be heard for miles around when he was apprehended.

The tension was palpable. Far from being discouraged, conservative pro-Yoon supporters marched in front of the Corruption Investigation Bureau, even threatening to storm it.

This crowd of angry Koreans brandishing Korean and American flags is surprising. You would have thought you were seeing a scene 11,000 kilometers away, in Washington, on January 6, 2021.

People in their 50s and 60s wearing red caps inspired by the movement MAGA (Make America Great Again) where we could read in Korean Against illegal impeachment.

They also held signs distributed by the far-right Freedom Unification Party.

Pro-Yoon supporters call his arrest illegal, downplay the scope of the imposition of martial law and the suspension of freedoms and cry usurpation of power.

Justice always triumphs. I had never seen justice lose to evil until today. President Yoon has always lived in justice, so I think his impeachment is clearly invalida protester told Reuters with a poster that read: Stop the Steal.

Another even asked Donald Trump to intervene to protect the suspended Korean president.

Since President Yoon Suk-yeol is at the forefront of protecting the Free Republic, and the United States serves as the world’s policeman, I believe President Trump should step in and play an active rolesaid a demonstrator at theAFP here.

Similar manufacturing

For pro-Yoon supporters who have appropriated the movement’s slogans and iconography MAGA for several weeks, the current political crisis in South Korea has reminded them of the American situation four years ago.

From the perspective of Yoon’s supporters, now disappointed and perhaps even furious that he was not only impeached and suspended but also detained, it is tempting to draw a parallel between Yoon’s ouster from power today and Trump’s loss of power after the 2020 election. They perceive the slogan “Stop the Steal” as a way to defend Yoon while creating a transpacific resonance with Donald Trump and his supportersexplains Hans Schattle, professor of political science at Yonsei University in Seoul.

The problem lies in the fact that “Stop the Steal“in the United States was an invention of Trump and his supporters to try to cling to power after effectively losing the 2020 election. And similarly, “Stop the Steal” in South Korea today constitutes similar manufacturing.

Another echo of the movement MAGAYoon Suk-yeol attacked Korean media for justifying the imposition of martial law.

Yoon’s legal team claimed in a document provided to the Constitutional Court on Wednesday that union-controlled media outlets were producing fake news and amplifying opposition propaganda.

He also echoed Donald Trump’s comments on enemies of the state et the radical left.

These rallies where the Korean far right is openly displayed are the kind of scenes we have seen every day in Seoul since the first attempt to arrest suspended President Yoon Suk-yeol on January 3.

Accused of inciting insurrection

He is accused of treason and incitement to insurrection for having imposed martial law for a few hours on December 14.

The population and the political class unanimously rose up to condemn the imposition of martial law for partisan political purposes and vowed to fight to preserve Korean democracy.

But since then, support for the suspended president has continued to climb. His party even saw its support increase by more than 6% in the last week.

Suspended President Yoon, who lost the legislative election earlier this year and is contesting the result as a robbery, has justified the imposition of martial law by repeating conspiracy theories from right-wing groups about YouTube by claiming to want to counter a rise of North Korean groups in South Korea.

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Evangelical groups, conservative retirees and Korean admirers of the American president have been at the heart of pro-Yoon rallies in recent weeks.

A prominent voice on the evangelical right is the Rev. Jun Kwang-hoon, who spoke at a rally in early January to defend Yoon’s declaration of martial law.

If President Yoon had not declared martial law, the country would already be in the hands of North Koreahe shouted.

At these pro-Yoon rallies, some young supporters are causing controversy and concern.

In early January, a group of far-right young people held a press conference in parliament where they introduced themselves under the name Baekgoldan or White Skull Squad.

This name refers to a unit which repressed pro-democracy demonstrators in the 1980s and 1990s, including deadly beatings.

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Young people pushed towards conservatism

If investigators go moving forward by executing an arrest warrant against the president or deploying special police units, this could lead to a civil war situationsaid the leader of the group, Kim Jung-hyun during the press conference.

Yoon Suk-yeol courted young, male voters during the 2022 presidential campaign by denying institutional discrimination against women and promising to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality that his supporters called outdated .

Exit polls showed Yoon garnering about 58 percent of the vote among men in their 20s.

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Economic instability is a key factor pushing young people towards conservatismnoted in an interview withAFP last week Kwon Soo-hyun, professor of sociology at Gyeongsang National University.

The pro- and anti-Yoon protests in recent weeks have only highlighted the significant divisions in Korean society.

The Democratic Party [la principale opposition au président suspendu Yoon, NDLR] is currently advocating for a comprehensive anti-discrimination law and other bills closely linked to feminist ideology, which appears to be the main factor in the current division between men and women, particularly those who have about twenty years. Women in their 20s therefore naturally side with the Democratic Party, and it is for this reason that they tend to participate in many rallies in favor of the impeachment of Yoon Suk-yeol. In contrast, men appear to be participating in many protests against Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachmentrecently indicated a 26-year-old pro-Yoon activist, Lee Keon-hee.

South Korea, united in its desire to protect its young democracy after the brief imposition of martial law, appears more polarized than ever.