On Dec. 3, 2024, at 10:23 p.m., South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol delivered a televised address declaring national emergency martial law.
This shocking move followed a months-long battle between the nation’s president and the main opposition Democratic Party, over the investigation into and prosecution of First Lady Kim Keon-Hee’s alleged corruption. Although she was cleared of all charges, the Democratic Party impeached the Chief Auditor and prosecutors handling the case on Dec. 2 due to a dispute of the outcome of the case.
President Yoon cited the multiple impeachments against top government officials as well as the Democratic Party’s refusal to pass a budget as justification for his martial law decree.
Hours later, the martial law was lifted, and within a few days President Yoon was impeached and temporarily suspended, leaving Prime Minister Han Duck-Soo in power.
This isn’t South Korea’s first brush with martial law—in fact, it’s the 17th such declaration—but this time is unique.
Typically, martial law has been used in South Korea by presidents to violently suppress the people’s demands for democratic reform, such as the Gwangju Uprising and the April Revolution. However, this move by President Yoon, excessive as it is, stems instead from the Democratic Party’s abuse of power.
And that is why the Democratic Party needs to change. If South Korea is to remain a free and stable democracy, it cannot have one party unjustifiably impeaching government officials and the other imposing martial law. This is a recipe for anarchy or tyranny.
Since President Yoon came to power in 2022, the Democratic Party has proposed 29 motions of impeachment, thirteen of which they passed unilaterally. If this seems excessive, it’s because it is. In only two years, the party has impeached the chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission (two days after they took office), their impeachment was a near copy of a prosecutor’s indictment, prosecutors investigating their leader, and scores/many more. Now, thanks to a decision made, incidentally, by the Democrat-controlled National Assembly, acting presidents can be impeached with a straightforward majority vote instead of the usual two-thirds. Mere days later, and only two weeks into his term, acting President Han Duck-Soo was impeached.
It is astonishing that, in only two years, the Democratic Party has weaponized its National Assembly majority to repeatedly and unjustifiably impeach government officials. Their actions are putting the country on track to return to its past of presidents suppressing opposition.
Because of this, it seems like there are only two ways to stop the Democratic Party’s actions and their consequences. Either the party decides to stop abusing impeachment for partisan gain, or the people get tired of dysfunction and vote them out. Although it is in a chaotic state, South Korea is still a robust democracy in the modern world, and the keys to the government ultimately remain with the people.
But what do I think will happen? I think that President Yoon will be removed from office by the Constitutional Court of Korea. When that happens, snap elections must be held within 60 days, which are highly likely to be won by the Democratic Party. Once in power, the party will only continue to abuse the impeachment process as a method of forcefully asserting their will. After the Democratic Party’s five years in power are over, the conservatives will return to power in a country whose governmental norms have been gravely and irrevocably tarnished.
The Democratic Party may eventually end their impeachment spree years down the line, but if they don’t stop soon, the damage will already have been done.
