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Yoon Suk-Yeol

Massive Celebrations After South Korea’s President Is Impeached

April 5, 2025 Abdul Rahman, People's Dispatch. , , , ,
In a unanimous decision on Friday, April 4, the Constitutional Court in Seoul upheld the impeachment of Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, ordering his immediate removal from his post. Millions of people took to the streets across the country to celebrate the court’s decision calling it the end of the coup attempt. People carried posters and banners denouncing Yoon’s authoritarianism and chanting pro-democracy and pro-peace slogans. All eight judges in the constitutional court agreed with its acting Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae who said that by declaring martial law Yoon “abandoned his responsibility to safeguard the constitution and gravely betrayed the trust of the sovereign people of Republic of Korea,” The Korean Times reported.

South Korean Workers Unite Against The US-Backed Far Right

March 12, 2025 Otis Grotewohl, Workers World. , , , ,
South Korea’s U.S.-backed President Yoon Suk Yeol was released from the Seoul Detention Center on March 8. Yoon was impeached on Dec. 27, 2024, for his role in ordering a right-wing coup, an order that failed earlier that month. Yoon’s release was based on a legal technicality, and it is already sparking some resistance and some chaos. Yoon had declared martial law on Dec. 3 during a televised address. The declaration aroused fierce and massive resistance, particularly from organized labor, students and two opposition parties that participate in the Korean Congress.

The US Can Learn From South Koreans Who Stopped An Authoritarian

February 18, 2025 Jungmin Choi, Waging Nonviolence. , , , , , , ,
As Elon Musk and his DOGE team set about dismantling government agencies, many Americans expected a strong response from Congressional Democrats. Instead, party leaders offered weak statements and little resistance to being refused entry to the very agencies they are tasked with overseeing. This lack of urgency amid what’s being called an administrative coup stoked a wave of angry calls to “do more.” In their outrage on social media, many pointed to decisive action taken by politicians in other countries facing crisis. For example, someone on BlueSky noted that “South Korean politicians were literally scaling fences to protect their government,” while “our senators are sending out pre-scheduled tweets about the Super Bowl.”

Washington’s (Not So) Strong Man In Seoul Is Defying Arrest

January 7, 2025 In Jeong Kim, Orinoco Tribune. , , , , ,
On January 3, three days after a South Korean court issued an arrest warrant for suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol on charges of leading an insurrection and abusing authority, investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office went to the presidential residence to execute the warrant—the first against a sitting president in Korean history. When investigators tried to arrest Yoon, they were confronted by hundreds of his supporters who had camped out to shield him. Following a dramatic five-hour standoff with the presidential security team, who had formed a “human wall” to block the path to Yoon, the investigators eventually retreated. The warrant remains valid until January 6.

South Korea’s Martial Law Fiasco

December 8, 2024 K. J. Noh, Counter Punch. , , , ,
In the wake of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s 6-hour coup, Western pundits have opined that this was an affirmation of South Korean democracy’s robustness and resilience, its institutional maturity and strength. This is like saying after a survivor fights off an assault, that this demonstrates a mature state of legal order. Hardly. It signals the opposite. Certainly, it highlights courage, but it isn’t a demonstration of a robust state of rights. It demonstrates a gaping, terrifying lack of order.

People Across US Mobilize In Solidarity With South Koreans

December 6, 2024 People's Dispatch. , , , , , ,
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.

Support Koreans against Yoon!

December 5, 2024 Workers' World. , , , , , , ,
The labor unions and mass organizations of the people of South Korea deserve the support of everyone who wants to struggle against war and dictatorship. They are fighting at this time — Dec. 4, 2024 — to rid the Seoul regime of its autocratic, anti-worker, pro-war President Yoon Suk-Yeol. On Dec. 3 Yoon declared martial law and sent elite troops to seize the National Assembly. His coup attempt failed, and the Congress voted to lift the coup. Yoon’s own cabinet members had dissented in fear of defeat, and Yoon was forced to retreat within hours of his martial law declaration.