Korea’s anti-impeachment protests go national with MAGA overtones

by WorldTribune Staff, January 19, 2025 Real World News

The relentless effort of the leftists who lead South Korea’s Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) to impeach and arrest President Yoon Suk-Yeol has spawned a massive conservative movement in his defense.

That movement has overtones of U.S President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement, with activists showing up at pro-Yoon rallies carrying huge American flags, playing the song YMCA that was featured in 2024 Trump rallies, and holding up illustrations of Trump and signs reading “stop the steal” — a reference to what conservative activists say is the fraudulent election that gave the National Assembly majority to the DPK.

Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP / Getty Images

Northeast Asia analyst Gordon Chang noted in a post to X: “This is the most important moment in the history of South Korea since the Korean War armistice. Now, everything is on the line.”

East Asia Research Center director Tara O noted in a Jan. 18 social media post: “At the corrupt Western District Court that answers to the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), which has been flaunting rule of law, people gathered to call for canceling the impeachment, to restore the rule of law, and to expose election fraud that gave an enormous majority to the DPK, & to save Korea.”

Yoon’s legal team has condemned the criminal case against him as illegal and insisted that the warrant issued for his arrest was not actionable. Yoon nonetheless accepted his arrest on Wednesday, stating it was necessary to avoid “bloodshed.” Yoon became the first sitting president in South Korean history to be arrested.

“Seeing warrants being issued by agencies without investigative authority, and courts without the authority to review warrants issuing arrest warrants and search and seizure warrants,” Yoon told his supporters, “and seeing investigative agencies issuing false official documents to deceive the people, committing such illegal acts, and forcibly proceeding with procedures based on invalid warrants, I cannot help but feel regretful.”

“As the president who must protect the Constitution and legal system of the Republic of Korea, responding to such illegal and invalid procedures is not an acknowledgment of this [their legality], but rather a desire to prevent unpleasant bloodshed,” Yoon said in comments made after his arrest.

Yoon was questioned shortly after his arrest and reportedly did not answer any of the questions investigators posed. His attorneys insisted his silence was “not a refusal to cooperate” but a rejection of the Corruption Investigation Office’s (CIO’s) jurisdiction.

“Since the CIO does not have jurisdiction over insurrection charges, the president is under no obligation to respond. We will instead submit a written statement in due time,” Yoon’s legal team said in a statement.


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