Monash University
South Korea was plunged into political chaos overnight when President Yoon Suk Yeol shocked the country by imposing martial law before agreeing to lift it six hours later. The move resulted in soldiers on the streets, protests and a dramatic late night vote in parliament to overturn the declaration.
Gil-Soo Han, Professor Communications & Media Studies, Monash University, says:
“This is not a surprise. The President has been in conflict with parliament for months – using his veto to stop bills, and he has struggled to get his own bills through.
“He has finally been pushed into a corner over the corruption allegations involving him and his wife.
“But he will not resign willingly. And although there are enough reasons to impeach him, it will be difficult because the opposition is eight seats short of the 200 required to win a motion in parliament.”
Andrew David Jackson, Associate Professor, Korean Studies and Director, Monash University Korean Studies Research Hub (MUKSRH) said:
“This is a worrying flashback to the bad old days of the 30-year-long military dictatorship in South Korea.
“Yoon’s justification for introducing martial law is very similar to General Chun Doo Hwan’s justification for extending martial law in May 1980, which led to a further seven years of authoritarian rule.
“These historical parallels will not go down well with a lot of South Koreans – whether they are progressive or conservative.”
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It’s not difficult to see how military forces are so ready to act against their own best interests, and against the best interests of the country they serve; witness within such a short period of time after the Korean president unilaterally declared martial law, arguably, to save his own scrawny neck given his plummeting popularity, his willingness to use ugly & inflammatory language against his detractors, and his wife’s tranche of illegal behaviours, what did we see after his pronouncement?; with minimal hesitation, the army descended on the National Assembly, finding themselves locked out, they immediately set to smashing windows and forcing entry.
Vandals & hooligans would best describe them, unfortunately, practically any army around the world would behave the same. This intrinsic bias towards violence if officially endorsed is trunk and root within the human pathological spectrum.