South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (left) (©Yonhap/Kyodo)
One almost understands South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's frustration. The leftist opposition in South Korea, the Democratic Party, holds a commanding majority in the National Assembly. Since day one, they have been trying to obstruct and undermine him.
They have blocked his policies at every turn and tried to impeach him or his associates 22 times since he took office in May 2022. They are also targeting his wife on corruption charges.
So much for "the loyal opposition." This seems well beyond sharp-elbowed politics.
Yoon described it as a "legislative dictatorship."
But Yoon's declaration of martial law on December 4 was a "shoot, ready, aim" sort of thing.
It did not appear to be based on any specific intelligence of an immediate threat that might warrant or evoke popular support for such a drastic move in a well-established democracy - although it arguably was made in line with constitutional provisions.
The Fallout
Some reporting indicates the Defense Minister and perhaps the head of the Army encouraged Yoon to declare martial law as the best way of beating back the opposition that had made South Korea ungovernable.
However, Yoon's own party's leaders came out against the move. There was no groundswell of public support, and even the military support fizzled out.
A few hours after declaring martial law, Yoon lifted the decree in accordance with a vote from the National Assembly directing him to do so. Nonetheless, the damage was done. Besides the harm to South Korean civil society, it is a huge headache for the Americans when a key ally in Northeast Asia is in such straits.
The Chinese do not mind at all.
Yoon Crying Wolf?
Here is something else to consider: President Yoon warned of North Korean supporters in the opposition in his statement announcing and justifying martial law.
He is actually right. There is a sizable chunk of South Korea's Democratic Party and leftist political world that is pro-North Korea and also pro-China – as hard as that is to imagine. They are also anti-American.
In South Korea, the unreformed student radicals are from the 1980s – and are known as Jusapa.
President Moon Jae In (Yoon's predecessor) was also preternaturally sympathetic to both North Korea and the People's Republic of China (PRC).
He also had no love for the United States. In his autobiography, he tells of his euphoria on hearing the Americans were defeated in Vietnam.
The Radical National Assembly
Moon also had hard-core radicals working in his administration and in high positions. Imagine if unreformed 60s-era radicals in the United States took power in the US. (Some might say they did a couple of times in recent decades, but that is another story.)
In South Korea the unreformed student radicals are from the 1980s – and are known as Jusapa.
Take Lee In-young, the Unification Minister appointed in July 2020. Read the transcript of his confirmation hearing in the National Assembly.
Lee was biting his tongue but did not seem to have changed much since his days as the #2 person in the Anti-American Youth Association, which was the underground organization providing leadership to Jeondaehyup. A violent, radical 1980s student organization, Jeondaehyup was based upon North Korea's Juche ideology.
The Democratic Party has not changed its stripes over the last four years.
Its current leader, Lee Jae Myung, has called American forces in South Korea "occupying forces." Furthermore, he is accommodating towards the PRC, including its position on bringing Taiwan under its grip.
Tara O of East Asia Research continues to do excellent work on this topic. Her research is invaluable for anyone interested in understanding the backgrounds, ideologies, and political objectives of South Korea's leftists.
Leftist Dominance
South Korean leftists have long wanted a one-party state that they control. They have sought to dominate the levers of power even beyond the government – to include labor unions, academia, and the media.
But it was Moon Jae In's election in 2017 and the subsequent National Assembly elections in 2020 and 2024 that put this goal in reach. That is what gave the leftists solid control of the National Assembly.
Moreover, the National Assembly is arguably a more attractive target than even the presidency in South Korea.
In the South Korean system, the National Assembly can make life nearly impossible for a president. Conversely, in the United States, a president has considerable power even if the opposition holds both houses of Congress.
It is this author's opinion that there is credible evidence of widespread electoral manipulation in the 2020 and 2024 National Assembly elections. This deserves far more assessment than it has received to date.
Ironically, most South Korean citizens have no desire to be ruled by North Korea or a North Korean-like system. Furthermore, they also support the US-ROK alliance.
But that does not matter so much when a coterie of hardcore radicals (Marxist or otherwise) is able to take over a government and move a country where most people do not want it to go. We have seen it before.
The End Game
Whatever happens from now on, Yoon's move for martial law discredits the South Korean conservatives for a long while. South Korean conservatives are generally pro-American, support American-style freedoms, and pro-free markets.
This works to the Democratic Party's advantage. It also roils the ROK-US alliance - at a time when the PRC is on the move along with its erstwhile allies, North Korea and Russia.
On top of that, President Yoon's foreign policy achievements may be lost. Yoon boldly improved relations with Japan, and South Korea is supplying the US with ordnance to replace what it has sent to Ukraine.
South Korea is also a major arms exporter in Asia and beyond - with the political influence and standing that comes with that.
Who benefits from the degradation and tearing apart – "entropic warfare" – that has been happening to South Korea for at least the last seven years – and that exploded the other day? The PRC.
One fairly thinks they encouraged it, given the PRC's track record of employing entropic warfare and political warfare from Washington to the Solomon Islands and beyond.
The US-South Korea alliance has held up remarkably well for over 70 years. And it is still able to repel an attack from North Korea, for now.
However, perhaps entropic warfare might do to the alliance what kinetic warfare could not do.
This is one more mess for the Trump Administration to deal with. As if it needed any more.
RELATED:
- South Korean Martial Law: A Shocking Turn and What Lies Ahead
- EDITORIAL | Japan, South Korea Cooperation a Must Amid Security Threats
- Anti-Japan Extremists in South Korea Endanger Their Nation's Security
Author: Grant Newsham
