Authoritarianism has no future in South Korea

History repeats itself in South Korea. Now, just like eight years ago, Koreans have taken to the streets to demand the removal of their president for abuse of power, while the entire planet is worried about what Donald Trump will do when he assumes the presidency of the United States again on the 20th. of January. The situation is not exactly the same as in December 2016, but it is very similar, perhaps worse, since then there was no war in Ukraine, nor was the Middle East on fire and it was unknown what a billionaire named Donald would be capable of doing. Trump once installed in the White House.

Also the reasons why hundreds of thousands of Koreans have demonstrated daily in the streets of Seoul are more serious than those eight years ago. In December 2016, they demanded the dismissal of the then president, Park Geun-hye, for abuse of power and bribery. A demand that was addressed by the National Assembly on December 9 of that year. Now, in December 2024, they have done so in defense of democracy and demanding the dismissal of its president, Yoon Suk-yeol, after he proclaimed martial law on December 3. An abrupt statement that the Blue House tenant justified by invoking foreign threats and the existence of pro-North Korean and anti-state forces in the country.

The proclamation of emergency martial law did not last more than six hours. The members of the National Assembly managed to evade the surveillance of the deployed soldiers, entered Parliament and voted to repeal it. Immediately afterwards, the opposition, which is the majority in the chamber, conspired to remove President Yoon from his duties.

The National Assembly achieved its objective and activated the process of impeachment of Yoon Suk-yeol as president on December 14, with the favorable vote of 204 parliamentarians out of a total of 300. Now the Constitutional Court has a period of 180 days to rule and If the dismissal is ratified, this ruling would give way to the calling of presidential elections that should be held 60 days later. An election in which the leader of the opposition Democratic Party, LeeJae-myung, emerges as a favorite.

The decision of the Constitutional Court is, however, controversial. The motion must be approved by a minimum of six judges of the nine that make up said body and right now there are three vacancies due to retirement. The legislation states that for a ruling to be issued there must be at least seven judges, so the Assembly must agree to appoint at least one new judge, who will be ratified by the new interim president. Without that designation, the process would decline and Yoon would regain his duties.

Until the Constitutional Court rules on Yoon’s dismissal, his duties will be assumed, on an interim basis, by the former Prime Minister, Han Duck-soo, also a member of the conservative People’s Power Party. Han will possibly have to correct some of the decisions Yoon made during the two and a half years he served as president. A position he accepted after winning the 2022 presidential elections, just eight months after entering politics, after developing his career as a prosecutor for 27 years.

Observers of South Korean news believe that this lack of political experience may have prompted Yoon to enact martial law. An initiative that would have been adopted in order to overcome the legislative stagnation in which the National Assembly finds itself. This situation would have fueled his deep disdain for political norms, such as dialogue and the search for consensus. Added to this was his lack of appreciation for fundamental democratic norms, including respect for the balance between the country’s different institutions, according to the local press.

The reality, however, is that Yoon became a controversial politician from the first moment. In the electoral campaign he declared himself anti-feminist and in favor of abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality, without a head since February. And as president, he dismissed the accusations against his wife for having accepted a Dior bag, valued at around 2,000 euros, as a gift. Positions that made him an unfriendly figure in the eyes of the population.

But the fall of Yoon Suk-yeol goes beyond the simple removal of a president of the country. His impeachment has highlighted the fragile seams of the South Korean political framework. A system whose main problem is the paralysis of the partisan politics of the National Assembly, where the opposition Democratic Party, with a liberal tendency, dominates the chamber and the ruling People’s Power Party, with conservative ideology, controls the presidency.

These are two dominant forces that, instead of resorting to dialogue and the search for consensus, use legal tactics to hinder the opponent. Thus, while the Democratic Party continually presents motions of disapproval against presidential officials, Yoon routinely exercises his veto option against bills approved by the Assembly. This entrenchment leads to political paralysis that causes disenchantment among South Koreans, increasingly concerned about the rising cost of living and the difficulties in finding a job.

Many local political scientists consider, however, that this political situation is nothing more than a reflection of another more important problem, which is the overwhelming concentration of power of the presidency. For these experts, this is the main defect of South Korean democracy. They suggest that it is the true factor that undermines the effectiveness of the political party system and the institutional balance, since by revolving everything around the president of the country, he has almost absolute authority. A prerogative that can lead him to exercise his power in an exaggerated manner, as has been the case with Yoon with martial law.

In short, the panorama of political functioning suggests the need to address institutional reforms, with changes that avoid legislative paralysis and dictatorial pronouncements, while empowering voters to encourage political parties to negotiate and cooperate in the governance of the country. . In South Korea, the population not only exercises their right to vote, they also take to the streets to reject authoritarianism and remove presidents, as they have demonstrated in the last decade.