South Korea’s swift rescue of freedom
Every democracy, like every family, is resilient in its own way against internal divisions, and the South Korean people certainly showed their distinct democratic qualities on the night of Dec. 3.
After a surprise declaration of martial law by an unpopular president, Yoon Suk Yeol, a majority of the nation’s lawmakers – including many in the president’s party – rushed to the National Assembly in Seoul, bolstered by masses of citizens outside in the near-freezing cold.
The lawmakers bravely bypassed military barricades, nearly 300 troops, and a ban on political activity to vote against the president’s declaration, as the constitution allows them to do. Their courage was reflected by the mood of the pro-democracy protesters. “I am so scared that South Korea will turn into another North Korea,” one woman told the BBC.
Within hours, Mr. Yoon backed down – even though the former prosecutor now faces impeachment. A parliamentary democracy that dates only to 1987 was saved. Asia’s fourth-largest economy showed it was worthy of being designated as a developed country. And potential turmoil in a tense northeast Asia was averted.
The “great Korean people [had] overcome this coup,” declared the main opposition leader, Lee Jae-myung. And by “great” he may have been referring to a Korean cultural trait called han, a livid sorrow born of past national trauma that has helped instill individual resilience against threats to freedom.
“The past three decades have shown Koreans won’t tolerate democratic backsliding,” proclaimed Darcie Draudt-Véjares, a Korea expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Korean politics are often likened to a contact sport. The president’s martial-law edict and the deployment of soldiers in Seoul certainly showed just how rough the politics can be. Yet Koreans also have an inner strength nurtured over time by repelling despots and invaders. On the night of Dec. 3, han was with them. Their democracy snapped back, saving an anchor of stability in Asia.
