Stephen Cho, the coordinator of Korean International Forum
December 15, 2024
– On December 14, the National Assembly of the ‘Republic of Korea (ROK)’ passed the impeachment motion against the “ROK” President Yoon Suk-yeol with 204 votes in favor. This number of votes, exceeding 200 – two-thirds of the incumbent lawmakers, means that 12 ruling party lawmakers voted in favor in addition to 192 opposition party lawmakers. Just a week ago, the impeachment motion had been rejected with only 195 votes, but it was passed with the votes of ruling party lawmakers after a week.
– As time went on, the public sentiment for Yoon’s impeachment grew stronger. The organizers of the rallies around the National Assembly put the number of people gathering to call for impeachment at a million on December 7 and 2 million on December 14. Although these numbers might be somewhat exaggerated, it is objective that the number of people joining the rallies has been increasing, and the public opinion for impeachment has been escalating. No one can deny that.
– By the National Assembly’s votes to impeach Yoon on December 14, he was suspended from presidential office. However, in order for Yoon’s impeachment to be finalized, the Constitutional Court needs to uphold the decision. At least six of the nine judges of the Constitutional Court must agree. For reference, the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye in March 2017 was approved by all of them. Yoon’s case is simpler and clearer than Park’s. There is little to no dispute over the facts. It was even acknowledged in Yoon’s urgent address to the nation on December 12. For that reason, the Constitutional Court’s decision is expected to be made in a shorter period of time than the three-month period under Park.
– If the Constitutional court is upheld, the presidential election will be held in 2 months. If it’s upheld in January, the presidential election will be held in March. As in the case of Park previously, it’s very likely that the opposition party’s candidate, especially the leader of Democratic Party candidate, Lee Jae-myung, win the election. There are ‘judicial risks’ against Lee, but they have all been fabricated by the ‘political prosecutors’ thoroughly controlled by Yoon. Given the time required for legal proceedings, it is highly unlikely that these cases will be resolved before the presidential election. In short, if the presidential election is held, Lee will become president unless an unexpected event happens.
– After Yoon was suspended from the presidency, Deputy Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is acting in his place. This is in accordance with the law. Han should be held accountable as a state council member for his role in the martial law, but the opposition is tolerating his acting role in order to stabilize the country. It’s virtually impossible for Han acting president, who is expected to act passively, to veto the special prosecution law passed by the National Assembly, as Yoon did in the past. If a special prosecution law is passed to investigate the insurrection and corruption of Yoon and his wife Kim Keon-hee, it will further damage Yoon’s clique and the ruling People Power Party by revealing facts that have not been verified.
– However, the problem is that the risk of a second martial law still remains. In the Korean Peninsula, where localized war could break out at any time, the forces that pushed for the first martial law are in de facto control of all institutions of power, including the military. Above all, Yoon’s group is facing the worst crisis as they could be sentenced to the death for the failure of martial law, which is essentially an insurrection or rebellion. It is reasonable to assume that they would do anything to turn the tables.
– On December 14, there were two important reports just before the impeachment. One was the announcement of Yoon’s urgent address to the nation on December 12th. In this speech, Yoon viewed the opposition as an “anti-state force” as in the announcement of martial law on December 3 and condemned its activities as “frenzied sword dance”. He affirmed that he would “fight to the end”. This means that Yoon will not recognize the impeachment resolution in the National Assembly and will fight legally in the subsequent trial process at the Constitutional Court, and could impose a second martial law. Since Yoon’s group still controls the military and other institutions of power, a second martial law is not an impossible goal.
– Another significant development on December 13 was the testimony of a prominent YouTuber in the National Assembly and an interview with the US Congressman. The YouTuber testified that they had informed from an allied nation’s embassy, revealing plans for a ‘false flag’ operation. It involved the ‘ROK’’s special forces, disguised as the ‘Korean People’s Army,’ carrying out acts such as the assassination of ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon. This claim was further confirmed by Congressman Bradley James Sherman in an interview on MBC, a major media in the ‘ROK’. Sherman, a 15-term Democratic congressman and Korea expert, explicitly stated that the US was aware of the Dec. 3 martial law declaration and warned that if the ‘ROK’ government were to execute such a staged operation, the US would expose them to the world. The testimony and broadcast interview became a pivotal moment, stirring unrest among ruling party lawmakers and encouraging greater public participation in the impeachment decision on Dec. 14. It also heightened awareness among the opposition and the public of the possibility that Yoon’s group could stage such fabricated incidents, potentially leading to a second martial law declaration.
– On the evening of December 3, the day of the martial law, US Ambassador Goldberger called the Foreign Minister and the Deputy Chief of the National Security Office of the ROK, but they did not answer. Around the time of the martial law was imposed, unusually, U2 reconnaissance plane of the US military conducted reconnaissance activities to monitor the Korean military in the sky of the ROK, not in the sky of the DPRK. It was also revealed that the US military was preparing to move from Pyeongtaek, the largest foreign military base of US in the world, to Seoul. Comments from the US State Department spokesperson and others were also actively released. The National Assembly testimony of a Korean Youtuber, the interview of a US congressman, and some other facts together confirm three things. First, the US knew in advance of the martial law on December 3. Second, the Yoon group was trying to carry out the “False Flag” operation. Third, the US was also aware of the “False Flag” operation and warned of it through reports from the US embassy and a broadcast interview of a US congressman. The “embassy of a friendly country” mentioned in the National Assembly testimony is presumed to be the US embassy based on various pieces of information.
– Additional facts regarding the false flag operation by Yoon’s clique continue to emerge. Agents of the Headquarters Intelligence Detachment (HID), a special forces unit trained for operations in the DPRK, were mobilized during the December 3 martial law declaration. It has been revealed that a former commander who effectively controlled this unit was in direct contact with Yoon and Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun. Furthermore, it has been disclosed that Kim Keon-hee, who has effectively been acting as the president, recently contacted former special forces personnel and incited far-right YouTubers to attack ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon. HID is a unit designed to carry out special operations in the DPRK during emergencies, operating under the guise of Korean People’s Army uniforms. If a false flag operation or fabricated incident were to be staged in the ‘ROK,’ claiming that the Korean People’s Army had carried out assassinations, HID would be the most suitable unit for such a mission.
– The DPRK has responded to the ‘ROK’ ’s provocations for localized conflict, particularly in the latter half of the year, with a policy of “strategic patience.” In October, when the ‘ROK’’s drones repeatedly infiltrated the airspace over Pyongyang to drop leaflets as a provocation, the DPRK responded with only a warning without any physical action. Similarly, when the ‘ROK’ initiated launching trash balloons, to which the DPRK responded with sending its balloons, and even when it was revealed in November that the ‘ROK’ Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun had ordered striking the origin of these balloon launches but the Joint Chief of Staffs refused his order, the DPRK still refrained from responding. It also tolerated the ‘ROK’ ’s artillery fire toward the DPRK from an island in the West Sea, which would have been retaliated with counter-artillery fire in the past. Even when the ‘ROK’ conducted fire with heavy artillery in central inland areas and launched threatening multiple rockets, albeit in the East Sea, the DPRK continued its patience.
– The DPRK’s “strategic patience” policy culminated after the martial law on December 3. Since the declaration of martial law on December 3, the DPRK has issued only one news report and taken no further comments or actions. Its consistent and thorough silence convinced the ‘ROK’ people and opposition lawmakers that the constant military provocations from the ‘ROK’ government would not escalate into localized conflict and that there would be no “wartime” situation—one of the key conditions for declaring martial law. As the passage of the Kim Kun-hee special prosecutor bill and the impeachment of Yoon became increasingly likely in the National Assembly in December, and with the impossibility of declaring a “wartime martial law” due to the DPRK’s “strategic patience,” Yoon’s clique resorted to declaring emergency martial law even though the situation was not a wartime one. Furthermore, the DPRK’s “consistent silence” did not provide any favorable pretext for Yoon’s clique first to impose emergency martial and then conduct “false flag” operations – a self-fabricated scenario – using agencies like HID. The DPRK’s “strategic patience” and “consistent silence” contributed to pushing Yoon’s clique into self-destruction, forcing them to overreach themselves and take reckless actions. Especially Since the martial law on December 3, the ‘ROK’ opposition lawmakers, press media, and people no longer believe Yoon’s propaganda that the DPRK would militarily attack the ‘ROK’ or send special forces for assassination or terrorist attacks.
– After the failure of the fascist self-coup on December 3, the United States has engaged in media manipulation to distance itself from the coup, even exposing Yoon’s false flag operation. However, all coups in the history of the ‘ROK,’ a complete colony of the US, were orchestrated by the US. This is a common occurrence in oppressed nations colonized by the US. Since the declaration of martial law on December 3, the US has consistently claimed that it had no prior knowledge. However, it can no longer deny that the US was aware of it. As history shows, the truth about the US orchestrating the fascist coup will inevitably be revealed in the near future.
– The imperialist US has been trying to turn the tide of World War 3 into an irreversible trend. Since Trump’s election, it has lifted long-range missile restrictions on Ukraine and collapsed the Assad regime in Syria. Meanwhile, a pro-American government’s fascist self-coup has taken place in the ‘ROK’. The coup in the ‘ROK’ has sharply increased military tension on the Korean Peninsula, which will inevitably lead to a local war. It is no coincidence that the opposition parties in the ‘ROK’ are warning of a second martial law and a local war. A local war is a war in the ‘ROK’, which will inevitably expand into a war in East Asia and the Western Pacific, combined with a war in Taiwan. As the formation of the “Northeast Asia version of NATO” in August 2023 and the Washington NATO Summit in July 2024 confirmed, the “Pacificization of NATO” is going on and on. It cannot be overemphasized how we must be alert to the war maneuvers that the imperialist US is constantly making in East Asia as part of the big picture of World War 3.
– The National Assembly’s impeachment resolution on December 14 is a great victory for the people of the ROK. The fact that the National Assembly voted to lift the martial law in just two hours, is also the same, representing the will of the people. The Yoon’s clique tried to return the ‘ROK’ society to the days of military dictatorship through a fascist self-coup, but the people blocked it through massive protests. The world vividly witnessed the anti-fascist democratic capacity and historical victory of the people of ROK, who neutralized the martial law in just two hours and impeached the president in just 11 days.
– In order to fundamentally prevent the “fascistization” of the ‘ROK’ and make the people the true masters of society, we must move beyond anti-fascist struggles to anti-imperialist and anti-fascist struggles. As practice shows, the People’s Democracy Party is at the center of the revolutionary struggle that is developing the anti-fascist democratic front into a national democratic front and hastening the final victory. The People’s Democracy Party’s role as the locomotive will continue to increase as the train of the people’s uprising moves toward the final destination of popular sovereignty.
