Supporters of South Korea’s Yoon storm courthouse. Some see hope in Trump’s return
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SEOUL — As South Korean authorities extended President Yoon Suk Yeol’s detention Sunday, his supporters stormed the courthouse that issued the warrant, smashing windows with police shields and using fire hydrants to spray officers.
“Whether the communists die or I die, I’m going to see this to the end,” shouted one as he climbed over a wall.
Some called for the group to confront the judge who issued the warrant.
Police arrested at least 17 of the attackers, including one who had been streaming the mayhem on YouTube.
The president’s conservative supporters contend that the country has been overrun by North Korea sympathizers conspiring to destroy South Korea’s freedoms.
Yoon, who is facing charges of insurrection following his short-lived declaration of martial law in December, has been in custody since Wednesday, with police first arresting him on a warrant that allowed investigators to hold him for up to two days.
In issuing the latest detention warrant, which extends that period to a total of 20 days, the Seoul Western District Court cited the risk that Yoon might destroy evidence.
Yoon, South Korea’s first sitting president to be arrested, has also been suspended from his presidential duties as the Constitutional Court decides whether to confirm his impeachment motion, which was passed by the legislature in late December.
The liberal opposition party accused Yoon of encouraging the attack on the courts.
“The pro-insurrection forces rejected the constitutional order and tried to tear apart the rule of law,” opposition party spokesperson Kim Sung-hoi told reporters. “The ringleader of the insurrection incited his followers, turning them into a violent mob.”
For Americans, the scene might be reminiscent of the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, by a mob of supporters of then-President Trump, for which he was impeached on a charge of inciting insurrection.
Although Yoon, who has been deeply unpopular for most of his term, lacks Trump’s onstage appeal, recent events have made the oft-drawn parallels between the two more pronounced.
What comes next for Yoon Suk-yeol, the South Korean president who declared martial law this week?
Like Trump, Yoon has frequently lobbed accusations of “fake news” at the media, reportedly preferring to get much of his news from YouTube. And in the wake of his recent troubles, he has drummed up support by denouncing the country’s democratic institutions.
Yoon, a former prosecutor, has denied the charges of insurrection, arguing that his declaration of martial law — during which hundreds of special forces commandos occupied the National Assembly — was meant only as a warning to an opposition-led legislature he claimed was overrun by North Korea sympathizers.
He has called the arrest warrants against him illegal, thwarting one early arrest attempt by barricading himself in the presidential quarters in central Seoul, while also claiming that the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials — the agency leading his case — lacks the jurisdictional legitimacy to investigate him.
Since being suspended, he has continued to push a conspiracy theory that last year’s parliamentary elections — which delivered an overwhelming majority to his political opponents — were tainted by fraud.
“The laws in this country have regrettably fallen apart,” he said in a video statement released before his arrest on Wednesday. “It is deplorable to see a court that has no authority to review them issue arrest and search warrants, and to see investigative agencies issue false documents in order to deceive the South Korean people.”
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law, accusing the country’s opposition of paralyzing the government. Then he backed down.
Such rhetoric has mobilized many among South Korea’s anti-communist far right into his most fervent supporters, some of whom identify their embattled leader with Trump, who will assume office again Monday.
A common slogan seen on signs at pro-Yoon rallies is “Stop the steal,” referencing Yoon’s claims of election fraud and echoing the cries of Trump supporters on Jan. 6. Many Yoon supporters hope that the incoming Trump administration will intervene in what they describe as an unwarranted partisan attack on their leader, and they see potential allies in some Republican officials in the United States.
One such figure is U.S. Rep. Young Kim (R-Anaheim Hills), a Korean American who represents California’s 40th District and was recently appointed the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s East Asia and Pacific subcommittee.
In a recent written interview with South Korea’s largest conservative daily, the Chosun llbo, Kim stopped short of criticizing Yoon’s decision to impose martial law, while echoing a claim Yoon’s supporters have frequently made to undermine the impeachment proceedings against him.
“Some supporters of President Yoon claim that China has been manipulating public sentiment during the impeachment protests and spreading disinformation via social media. While such allegations remain unconfirmed, it wouldn’t be surprising. It’s entirely plausible,” she said. “The forces behind President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment prefer appeasement toward North Korea and accommodation of China, which could lead to a major disaster for the Korean peninsula and the Indo-Pacific region.”
Pro-Yoon lawmakers invited to Trump’s inauguration this week say they plan to appeal to their conservative U.S. counterparts.
“We will actively raise awareness about the country’s political realities, including the opposition’s insurrection incitement and the impeachment motion against the president,” said Na Kyung-won, a lawmaker from Yoon’s People Power Party.
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