News in South Korea travels so fast that newspapers can no longer keep up. President Yoon Suk-yeol’s shock attempt to impose martial law last Tuesday night was so short-lived that it didn’t make the front page. By the time he sent the troops, the press had already gone to print. By the next day’s issues, the botched power grab had already been defeated.
Within a week, the president went from contrite and apologetic, hoping to avoid impeachment, to defiant, vowing to keep fighting when pressed by the network.
Banned from leaving the country while he is being investigated for treason – a crime punishable by death – he faces a second impeachment vote this weekend as support for his party drains. Meanwhile, the anger of thousands of people in the streets grows stronger every night.
For a brief moment this week, it looked as if he had agreed with his party to resign early in exchange for them not removing him from office in last Saturday’s vote. But as the week passed, there was no sign of the president or the details of such a plan, and it gradually became clear that Yoon had no intention of resigning.
On Thursday, he proved stubborn. “I will fight to the end,” he declared. as he defended his decision to seize control of the country.
His speech was rambling and filled with unsubstantiated conspiracy theories, including the vague suggestion that North Korea may have rigged the previous election in which he failed to gain control of parliament. Parliament was a “monster,” he said; the opposition party is “dangerous”, and he, declaring martial law, tried to protect the people and save democracy.
Yoon has been in hiding for most of this week while police have tried to break into his offices to gather evidence. To try to tame public anger, his party announced he would not be allowed to make decisions in the future – even though legal experts agreed there was nothing in the constitution to allow it.
