Above photo: Demonstrators protest outside the ROK consulate in New York City on December 4. Pauline Park.
Call for resignation of President Yoon.
Demonstrators hold rallies across the US, joining popular demands within South Korea for the resignation of President Yoon Suk Yeol.
People in cities across the US are mobilizing in solidarity with people in South Korea, who are demanding the resignation of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol following his failed attempt to impose martial law. The North America-based Korean diaspora group Nodutdol organized rallies in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco on the night of December 4, which were joined by organizations such as the Korea Peace Now Grassroots Network, Korean Americans for the Progressive Party, the Palestinian Youth Movement, the People’s Forum, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
After mass mobilization by the South Korean people, as well as a unanimous vote in parliament, President Yoon’s decree of martial law was defeated. Now, demands for Yoon’s resignation grow within the country. The National Assembly will vote on whether to impeach Yoon at 7 pm on Saturday, if he does not resign first.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), the largest trade union confederation in the country, announced an indefinite general strike until President Yoon resigns.
US-based groups joined this growing popular demand, chanting “martial law is a crime, Yoon Suk Yeol resign, resign!”
Peoples Dispatch spoke to Ju-Hyun Park, an organizer with Nodutdol, at a rally outside the Republic of Korea’s consulate in New York City. “We’re here in solidarity with our people in South Korea to lift up that demand, because the US has actually played a huge role in ensuring that Yoon Suk Yeol was able to get away with all of these abuses of power while he was in office,” Park articulated, mentioning that Yoon and his policies are unpopular throughout South Korea. “He was invited into the White House, they rolled out the red carpet for him on multiple occasions. We’re here to break that image, and apply some international pressure.”
Biden and the White House appear to have been caught by surprise by Yoon’s actions and have yet to condemn the President’s move to declare martial law, even as President Yoon’s anti-democratic actions receive international scrutiny and pressure.
The US, however, continues to underscore its “ironclad” relationship with the east Asian nation, as reemphasized by Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell on December 3. “I do want to underscore that our alliance with the ROK is ironclad, and we stand by Korea in their time of uncertainty,” Campbell stated.
“The US believes President Yoon’s announcement to end martial law is a crucial step,” wrote the US Embassy in Seoul. “As our senior leaders continue to engage with the ROK to support our shared values & ensure stability in the region, we reaffirm our ironclad commitment to the [US-South Korea] Alliance, to the security of the ROK & to the Korean people.”