Protesters wear masks of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, outgoing Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and of Choo Kyung-ho, in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, on Dec. 6.Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s time as leader appeared to be quickly running out Friday, after a week of intense political drama that exposed both the fragility and resilience of the country’s democracy.
Mr. Yoon plunged the East Asian nation into chaos on Tuesday night with a surprise enactment of martial law, claiming South Korea was in a state of emergency few outside the embattled President’s circle perceived. This was rescinded within six hours, after lawmakers barricaded themselves inside the National Assembly and voted to overturn Mr. Yoon’s edict.
With protests breaking out nationwide demanding Mr. Yoon’s removal, the opposition Democratic Party said it would seek to impeach him in a vote on Saturday evening. Members of the ruling People Power Party had initially opposed this, but changed tack amid new revelations Mr. Yoon had attempted to have leading members of multiple political parties arrested and fears he would again seek to exercise military rule.
Battling for his political life, Mr. Yoon on Friday met with ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon and attempted to enter the National Assembly to lobby People Power members there directly. Opposition lawmakers blockaded the building, however, saying if Mr. Yoon entered there was a risk he could use his bodyguard to seize control, forcing the President to turn his motorcade around in another humiliation in a week full of them.
Fears were running high Friday morning that Mr. Yoon would make another stab at martial law, with Mr. Han warning: “I believe it is necessary to promptly suspend President Yoon Suk Yeol from his duties to protect the Republic of Korea and its people.”
Democratic Party representative Kang Yoo-jung said it had become clear Mr. Yoon’s initial martial law order was “an attempted coup d’état.”
“He poses a serious threat to democracy and the constitutional order,” she told The Globe and Mail.
Opinion: The forces behind South Korea’s political crisis are by no means unique
What the President’s intentions were Friday remains unclear, but both the Defence Ministry and leading military figures quickly came out publicly to say they would not obey a second martial law order. Three commanders who were involved in the initial attempt were also suspended pending an investigation.
Mr. Yoon’s removal would bring to a close a short-lived and highly controversial political career for the former chief prosecutor, who had never held elected office before he won the presidency on a whisper-thin margin in 2022.
After that acrimonious election, Mr. Yoon failed to reach an accord with an opposition-dominated National Assembly, which sought to stymie his agenda. In April legislative elections, with Mr. Yoon’s approval rating through the floor, the Democratic Party increased its majority, setting the stage for months of gridlock, which appear to have prompted the President’s fateful decision this week.
Frustrated politically, and facing investigations of top officials and his wife on corruption charges, Mr. Yoon may have gambled on the assumption that he was likely to be impeached in coming months regardless. Few of even his own ministers knew about the move in advance, they say now, blaming it on Mr. Yoon and Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun, his former bodyguard, who resigned Thursday.
James Trottier, a fellow of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and former senior diplomat in South Korea, said it was apparent Mr. Yoon had miscalculated badly.
“It’s reflective of his lack of political experience,” he said of the former prosecutor, “and a lack of consultation beyond a really small circle, even with the leaders of his own party.”
Even when Mr. Yoon did enact martial law, the lack of planning and poor communication foiled any chance he might have had to seize control.
Speaking to South Korean media, former lawmaker and military expert Kim Jong-dae said confusion in the chain of command led to delays in clearing airspace around the National Assembly, preventing special forces helicopters from landing for almost an hour, during which time lawmakers were able to enter the building and barricade themselves inside.
Mr. Yoon and his allies also appear to have overestimated how willing the military would be to carry out such an extreme action 45 years after martial law was last declared in South Korea.
Multiple senior intelligence and military figures said this week Mr. Yoon had given orders for lawmakers to be arrested, but the chief of the Army Special Warfare Command said Friday he had resisted, choosing only to deploy his troops around the National Assembly instead.
“I was ordered by then Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun to pull people inside the National Assembly building outside,” Lt. Gen. Kwak Jong-keun told lawmakers Friday. “I did not fulfill that task even though I knew it would be insubordination because based on my judgment, dragging lawmakers out was clearly an illegal act.”
Had martial law not been blocked by swift action at the National Assembly, it would almost certainly have faced intense resistance nationwide. Protesters took to the streets almost immediately after the news, some scuffling with police and military around the legislature.
At protests this week calling for Mr. Yoon’s removal, marchers who spoke to The Globe and Mail pointed to the months-long protests in 2016 and 2017, which led to then-president Park Geun-hye’s downfall, as proof of their determination.
“I’ve retired and I never thought I’d find myself out on the streets like this again,” said Kim Cha-hwan, 70. “But we must act. No president can overpower the people. Pointing guns at the citizens is unacceptable.”
With files from Hyeong Jin Choi and Reuters.