Claims among South Koreans that the country will unite with North Korea under the leadership of Kim Jong Un are causing concern. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is being tried, is accused of exploiting people’s historical fears to stay in power. While President Yoon Suk Yeol was giving a statement, hundreds of angry and worried supporters who have gathered around him since the failed martial law attempt were outside waiting with slogans.
Speaking to the BBC, one of Yoon’s supporters, Shin Jeong-min, said, “If the president is removed from office and an opposition leader is elected, our country will unite with North Korea and Kim Jong Un.” Shin referred to a theory popular among President Yoon’s most fanatic followers: the left-leaning opposition party wants to merge with the North and turn South Korea into a communist country. 22-year-old Jeong-min stands out among the elderly Koreans who have always feared and hated the North and hold extremist right-wing and conspiratorial beliefs.
This generation of Koreans, currently in their 60s and 70s, experienced the Cold War and vividly remembers the devastating consequences of North Korea’s invasion in the 1950s. When Yoon declared martial law at the beginning of December, he played on these fears to legitimize his seizure of power.
Without providing evidence, he claimed that “communist forces from North Korea” had infiltrated the opposition party and were attempting to overthrow the country. He said that political activities should be banned and the military should be brought into power swiftly, claiming that “rooting out” these ideals was necessary. The president is accused of exploiting people’s historical fears.
Shin, one of his supporters, says: “Yoon’s rhetoric almost completely overlaps with the rhetoric of past dictators, making him the first president to use such an anti-communist ideology so blatantly since Korea transitioned to democracy in 1987.” Not only did Yoon accuse the parliament led by the Democratic Party in opposition of being filled with sympathizers of Pyongyang, but he also raised the idea that North Korea had interfered in last year’s parliamentary elections with China’s help.
Democratic Party member Wi Sung-lac said in a statement to the BBC, “This is fake news fabricated by Yoon to demonize the opposition and justify his completely undemocratic actions.” Lee Sangsin, a polling expert at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said that such ideas had been previously put forward by extreme conservative groups.
Lee stated, “These groups were isolated. People didn’t pay much attention. However, because Yoon is president, his words carry weight, and many people have accepted what he says.”