Supporters of the embattled President of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, claim that the country could be merged with communist North Korea if the Opposition leader, Lee Jae-myung, is elected.
Yook Suk Yeol is on trial for imposing martial law in early December on the premise that “North Korean communist forces” had taken over the opposition Democratic Party. Now, he stands trial to be impeached in the country’s Constitutional Court.
“If the president is impeached and the opposition leader is elected, our country will become one with North Korea and Kim Jong Un,” one protester, a female pharmacy student, said.
Another demonstrator told the BBC: “This a war between communism and democracy.”
The protesters, who have been branded “far-right” and “conspiracy theorists”, believe that pro-communist forces have infiltrated the Opposition party.
They also believe that the country’s most parliamentary elections – won by the Opposition party – were rigged by Pyongyang, with the help of Beijing.
Many of the protesters point to Yoon, citing his claim about the North Korean-Chinese plot to rig the election, as the reason they believe it.
Demonstrators have been seen holding “Stop the Steal” placards, a nod to the slogan chanted by Donald Trump’s most ardent loyalists following the 2020 US presidential election. Now, protesters have begun holding signs saying “Chinese Communist Party OUT”.
“I believe China is interfering in all South Korea’s political affairs. It’s pulling the strings behind the scenes,” Jo Yeon-deok, 66, who was holding one of the signs, told the BBC.
Responding to the claim that the Democratic Party was acting in lockstep with North Korea and China, one Democratic Party lawmaker, Wi Sung-lac, told the BBC: “This is fake news cooked up by Yoon to demonise the Opposition and justify his completely undemocratic move.
“We have a long history of fighting for democracy and freedom in Korea. We are the ones who managed to thwart Yoon’s attempt to destroy Korea’s democracy,” he said.
After Yoon called martial law, Opposition politicians pushed past the police to vote down the emergency decree.
