‘Angst in the air’: South Koreans demonstrate for and against impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol

On Tuesday, a lunchtime crowd of a few thousand people blocked a major road in Seoul, South Korea’s capital, in an effort to prevent President Yoon Suk Yeol from being arrested. 

Yoon has been holed up at the official presidential residence since Dec. 3 when he briefly declared martial law, sending the nation into a democratic crisis.  

His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated National Assembly voted to impeach him on Dec. 14, accusing him of rebellion. 

He now faces an insurrection charge, which carries a possible death sentence. Yoon’s fate rests with the Constitutional Court, which has begun deliberating on whether to formally remove Yoon from office or reject the charges and reinstate him.

Yoon refused to appear on Tuesday before the Constitutional Court — reportedly to avoid being detained. The next hearing is set for Thursday, and the court will then proceed with the trial whether or not Yoon attends.

Yoon has said that he will “fight to the end,” while his political opponents say they’re committed to pushing him out of office.     

At the demonstration on Tuesday, some of his supporters held up signs in Korean and English, which read, “Stop the steal.” Many, like Chong Jin Do, waved both South Korean and American flags.

She said that Yoon and his supporters are loyal to the alliance with the United States, while the political opposition that impeached Yoon is actually in cahoots with China and North Korea.

She said that Yoon “is the right philosophy of liberal democracy. So, I support him.” 

Retired construction worker Han Gon Jo said he has been coming here every day for the last week. 

Han said that South Korea’s left-leaning political opposition is corrupt, and it’s been trying to bring down this conservative president since the day he was sworn into office more than two years ago. 

“I am disgusted with this situation. Most of our lawmakers are corrupted. You know, I never accept their behavior. So, I am here to fight for our democracy and Mr. Yoon.”  

Sung-yoon Lee is a global fellow with the Woodrow Wilson Center and was visiting Seoul. 

“There is as you see here, palpable anger, anguish, angst in the air. And there’s great political drama unfolding each day in South Korea,” he said, adding that Yoon largely brought this crisis on himself by doing something unprecedented. 

“President Yoon’s declaration of martial law was completely uncalled for. It was shocking. It was a betrayal of the trust of his nation. President Yoon does deserve to be impeached. Whatever happens to him, his future, his fate lies in the hands of the Constitutional Court now.”

At the same time, Lee said that voters here are growing increasingly skeptical of the political opposition for what some see as scorched-earth tactics. 

Yoon’s rivals in the National Assembly have impeached a record number of officials. And now, they’re pushing to have Yoon arrested, Lee said, even as the Constitutional Court is likely to remove him from office before long. 

“He’s already been impeached. He’s suspended. We know where he is right here in the vicinity of where we are today. He’s under virtual house arrest by choice. He’s not going anywhere. He’s been under a travel ban since early December. So, he’s not a flight risk. And to physically humiliate him, arrest him is in my view, a little bit of an overreach.”

That’s not how Yoon’s critics see things, though. 

Lee Yoon-ju, a 35-year-old office worker from Seoul, was part of a small group of counterprotesters who gathered just down the street from Yoon’s supporters, separated by police lines.

She said that Yoon is using his supporters to go against the people by trying to block an official investigation. 

“I want this president to be arrested, impeached, and yes, face the death penalty, even if he’s not actually executed.” 

If the Constitutional Court does rule in favor of removing Yoon from office, South Korea will need to hold another presidential election within 60 days. 

The AP contributed to this report.