{"id":17605,"date":"2025-04-05T13:42:33","date_gmt":"2025-04-05T13:42:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/how-south-koreas-democracy-prevailed-over-a-reckless-leader\/"},"modified":"2025-04-05T13:42:33","modified_gmt":"2025-04-05T13:42:33","slug":"how-south-koreas-democracy-prevailed-over-a-reckless-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/how-south-koreas-democracy-prevailed-over-a-reckless-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"How \u200bSouth Korea\u2019s Democracy Prevailed Over a Reckless Leader"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When Yoon Suk Yeol was running for president, he <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=UyYRrgBwNas\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">had the word \u201cking\u201d written on his palm<\/a>. South Koreans dismissed \u2014 and ridiculed \u2014 it as a shamanistic ritual that reflected his desire for top government office.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But \u200bafter his inauguration in May 2022, it didn\u2019t take long for \u200bthem to see an authoritarian streak in Mr. Yoon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On short notice, he \u200bmoved the presidential office from the graceful Blue House to a drab military building. When he turned 63 in December 2023, his security team <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/news.sbs.co.kr\/news\/endPage.do?news_id=N1007951270&amp;plink=ORI&amp;cooper=NAVER\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">sang songs<\/a> honoring him as \u201ca president sent from Heaven\u201d and describing his \u201c845,280 minutes\u201d in office so far as \u201ca time blessed.\u201d Two months later, a college student who protested Mr. Yoon\u2019s decision to cut government budgets for scientific research was <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8oskufxnFeY\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">gagged and dragged out<\/a> by the president\u2019s bodyguards. When journalists published what he called <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/11\/10\/world\/asia\/south-korea-fake-news-disinformation.html\" title=\"\">\u201cfake news,\u201d<\/a> prosecutors raided their homes and newsrooms to collect evidence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Yoon kept pushing the envelope, until he made his fatal mistake: \u200bOn Dec. 3, he <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2025\/03\/10\/world\/asia\/south-korea-martial-law-president-yoon.html\" title=\"\">declared martial law\u200b,<\/a> threatening a deeply cherished part of South Korean life: democracy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">To\u200b South Koreans, democracy has never been something given\u200b; it was fought for and won through decades of struggle against authoritarian leaders at the cost of torture, imprisonment and bloodshed\u200b. All the major political milestones in South Korea \u2014 an end to dictatorship, the introduction of free elections, the ouster of abusive leaders \u2014 were achieved after citizens took to the streets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">So when people saw troops sent by Mr. Yoon storming the National Assembly to seize the legislature by force, their response was immediate. But unlike those who fought government repression in the \u200b1950s through the \u200b\u201980s, South Koreans protesting in recent months had \u200bdemocratic institutions on their side.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The current Constitution, written in 1987 after a huge pro-democracy uprising, gave the National Assembly the power to vote down martial law and \u200bimpeach presidents. The Constitutional Court, created under \u200bthat Constitution, got to decide whether to remove or reinstate an impeached president. And leaders democratically elected under that Constitution imprisoned those who had earlier taken power by military force\u200b.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Younger generations, including the paratroopers Mr. Yoon sent to seize the Assembly \u200bin December, grew up learning of that history through <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/08\/02\/world\/asia\/south-korea-taxi-driver-film-gwangju.html\" title=\"\">box office-hit movies<\/a> and novelists like <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/12\/06\/world\/asia\/gwangju-massacre-human-acts-han-kang.html\" title=\"\">the Nobel laureate Han Kang.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Dec. 3, the troops hesitated before angry citizens blocking them with bare hands, allowing time for lawmakers, including some members of Mr. Yoon\u2019s own party, to gather and vote to lift his martial law decree. The Assembly then impeached him, on Dec. 14.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And on Friday, the Constitutional Court\u2019s eight justices, including those appointed by Mr. Yoon or his party, unanimously upheld that impeachment, putting an end to his military rebellion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">To one observer, these events were a victory for the democratic institutions created\u200b in the late 1980s. \u201cThe response to Yoon\u2019s attempted coup d\u2019\u00e9tat displayed the maturity of Korean democracy \u2014 first of all, the resilience of civil society, which reacted immediately and massively to oppose the coup, most notably with the passion of Korean youth who were not alive in the 1980s and experienced the dangers of a return to autocratic rule for the first time,\u201d said Daniel Sneider, a former journalist who covered South Korea back then and is now a lecturer at Stanford University.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe fact that it was a unanimous decision of the Constitutional Court, with conservative appointees joining the decision, was a very important expression of not only the clarity of the case, but also the ability to overcome ideological polarization,\u201d Mr. Sneider said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Yoon\u2019s power grab also exposed the vulnerabilities of democracy in South Korea. If such a thing can happen in a nation long considered an exemplary case of democratization in Asia, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.journalofdemocracy.org\/online-exclusive\/what-happened-to-south-koreas-democracy\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">scholars warned<\/a>, it can happen elsewhere, too.\u200b<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Despite his removal, the deep polarization that led up to Mr. Yoon\u2019s declaration of martial law persists. \u200b \u200bThe partisan struggle between the left and right is likely to intensify in the next two months as the country lurches toward a presidential election.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But the past four months have also shown the resilience of South Korean democracy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u200bUntil Mr. Yoon came along, few South Koreans thought that a return to military rule was possible in their country, a peaceful democracy known globally for its cars, smartphones and K-dramas. Many of those who joined protests calling for Mr. Yoon\u2019s ouster in recent weeks said they had been more proud of their democracy than of their cultural exports like the boy band BTS or the Netflix hit \u201cSquid Game.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When Mr. Yoon hurt that pride, he picked a fight he couldn\u2019t win. During rallies, people shared a video clip of former President <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/08\/19\/world\/asia\/19kim.html\" title=\"\">Kim Dae-jung,<\/a> an iconic figure in South Korea\u2019s democratization struggle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cDemocracy is not free,\u201d Mr. Kim said <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GBXXJYEJHJs\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">in the clip.<\/a> \u201cYou must shed blood, sweat and tears for it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">If the Constitutional Court had voted to reinstate Mr. Yoon, South Korea would have seen a \u201csecond wave of democratization movement\u201d and \u201ca second Gwangju,\u201d said Cho Gab-je, a prominent South Korean journalist who has covered the nation\u2019s political evolution since 1971, referring to the brutally suppressed uprising against martial law in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/21\/world\/asia\/south-korea-photos-gwangju-crackdown.html\" title=\"\">the southern city of Gwangju<\/a> in 1980.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe had our share of martial law, but Yoon Suk Yeol was the first president to send armed troops into Parliament,\u201d Mr. Cho said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Yoon was once a hero among South Koreans. He built his national image as an uncompromising prosecutor when he helped imprison two former presidents for corruption. But he proved disastrous as a politician \u2014 unable to engage in the give and take of compromise with the opposition, which controlled the National Assembly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He was accused of filling his presidential staff with officials too timid to speak up. He was nicknamed \u201cMr. 59 Minutes,\u201d because that was how long he was said to speak during an hourlong meeting. He rarely apologized for his <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/02\/01\/world\/asia\/south-korea-first-lady-dior.html\" title=\"\">wife\u2019s scandals<\/a> or even for <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/10\/21\/world\/asia\/itaewon-halloween-crush.html\" title=\"\">deadly disasters<\/a>. He used his veto power to kill opposition bills. The opposition slashed his budgets and impeached an unprecedented number of political appointees in his government.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cA player busy playing on the field doesn\u2019t look at the electronic scoreboard,\u201d Mr. Yoon once said when asked about his dismal approval ratings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Such an attitude allowed him to push unpopular efforts, such as <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/05\/07\/world\/asia\/south-korea-japan-kishida-yoon.html\" title=\"\">improving ties<\/a> with Japan and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/01\/world\/asia\/korea-doctors-strike-yoon.html\" title=\"\">drastically increasing<\/a> the number of doctors. But even many who sympathized with his struggle against the opposition didn\u2019t see martial law coming.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cKoreans do not want the 1980s option, when martial law and tear gas made forcibly disappeared people painful to so many families,\u201d said Alexis Dudden, a professor of history at the University of Connecticut. \u201cYoon and his advisers missed the mark of reading today\u2019s South Korea in many obvious ways.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/05\/world\/asia\/south-korea-democracy-martial-law.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Yoon Suk Yeol was running for president, he had the word \u201cking\u201d written on his palm. South Koreans dismissed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[2696,3230,475,523,522,476,521,520],"class_list":["post-17605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-coups-detat-and-attempted-coups-detat","tag-democracy-theory-and-philosophy","tag-demonstrations","tag-impeachment","tag-martial-law","tag-protests-and-riots","tag-south-korea","tag-yoon-suk-yeol"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How \u200bSouth Korea\u2019s Democracy Prevailed Over a Reckless Leader - World News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/how-south-koreas-democracy-prevailed-over-a-reckless-leader\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How \u200bSouth Korea\u2019s Democracy Prevailed Over a Reckless Leader - World News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When Yoon Suk Yeol was running for president, he had the word \u201cking\u201d written on his palm. 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