hankyoreh

By Ahn Byeong-wook, former president of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Korea

Korean society has been suffering substantial aftershocks from President Yoon Suk-yeol’s self-coup plot. Forces looking to exploit his impeachment as a political opportunity seem to have surpassed a critical threshold. Rallies by fanatical religious groups with far-right tendencies have taken up the cause of Yoon and People Power Party politicians, forming a fascist alliance of violent political forces. 

Accustomed to authoritarian practices, the bulk of the people at these rallies don’t seem to care much for democratic political culture. Those who have been disadvantaged by changes in the political landscape seem infatuated with far-right incitement. Coupled with the inchoate fandom politics of the younger generations, it’s as though Pandora’s box has been opened, and new forms of chaos reign. 

The first thing to point out regarding this development is the disappearance of the communicative power of the written word. In politics, people may be speaking the same language, but they are simply giving one-sided arguments — there is no exchange of opinions. Based on political stance, the logic and way of thinking behind the words change, meaning that the more one speaks to someone on the other side, the greater the conflict and the higher the tension, giving rise to hostility. 

Most people have simply found themselves in their group by chance, but confirmation bias based on identity has made them blind. Martial law has long served as a symbol of dictatorial repression and the fear of murder and massacre. But they deny this and instead refer to martial law as an “awakening.” Just as we were forced to accept the order enforced by the armed forces during the colonial era, this logic maintains that we must now be governed by the awakening brought on by martial law troops. The type of street logic is now making its way into arguments before the Constitutional Court, the place where people should uphold the strictest standards of conduct and speech.   

Second, as communication is no longer possible, trust has disappeared. As people cannot believe what they’re told and harbor doubts, conspiracy theories abound. Voting and elections form the crux of a democratic society. Dictatorships in the past were able to wield power irrespective of the will of the people by arbitrarily and illegally tampering with election results. Now, if politicians fail to earn the support of the people, they lose elections and lose power. That is the foundation that upholds a democratic society. 

However, the far right is now attacking institutions that originally represented pillars of conservative values: the National Election Commission, the Constitutional Court, and the judicial branch. They are going so far as to call for such institutions to be dismantled. They likely feel discontented and alienated by these institutions playing a critical role in justice based on rationality rooted in logic and common sense — unlike how things were in the past. 

In particular, the attacks against the Constitutional Court regarding the way it’s conducting the impeachment trial are an extension of the insurrectionist movement that denies the foundations of the nation. Reactionary politicians who have nostalgia for authoritarianism are presenting absurd theories about election fraud and are sowing confusion within society. This is based on the foolish assumption that they can gain power by hoodwinking the public and deceiving the world. 

Third, as communication is severed, trust collapses, and conspiracy theories abound, violence is bound to follow. We all saw the unprecedented violent attack on a courthouse, during which rioters vandalized the building in the dark of night, attempted to set it on fire, and roamed its hallways in search of the judge who issued a detention warrant for the president. It was an unfettered attack against the judicial branch, which is responsible for determining wrong and right in a society where democratic processes operate as normal, where ethics matter. In a matter of moments, a democracy that had appeared robust seemed like it had degenerated into a violent and chaotic society of savagery. 

In his last statement during the impeachment trial, Yoon defended these people by referring to them as “young people who, in the wake of events caused by [his] detainment, currently find themselves in difficult circumstances.” Not only has he abandoned the dignity of the country’s highest executive office, it seems he cannot even be declared mentally sound. 

Absurd statements and violent words are thrown around in the fanatic rallies that fill our streets. These fanatics spout gobbledygook about the “right to resist.” Ruling party politicians, who are the most responsible for the current situation, are joining these rallies and calling for the Constitutional Court and the judicial branch to be wiped out. These people who are calling for riots and violence to overtake the government are part and parcel of the forces behind Dec. 3’s insurrection. The power that their government dreams of can be equated to a blade swung by a blind swordsman. 

Fourth, we’ve become a society that has lost all class. Yoon called the Democratic Party “anti-state forces” and the cause of the nation’s ruin, referring to himself as the victim of such anti-state forces paralyzing state administration. He’s said that “nothing actually happened” as a result of martial law, that “soldiers were actually hurt when attacked by citizens,” and that Hong Jang-won, first deputy director of the National Intelligence Service, and Kwak Jong-geun, former head of the Army Special Warfare Command, were “pressured and threatened by Democratic Party lawmakers to give false statements about orders to arrest key politicians and leaders and have them dragged out.” He argues that martial law was cautionary in nature and that he’s being persecuted for insurrection, a crime he did not commit. 

In the old days, if someone in the neighborhood did something so ridiculous, the adults would scold him for being a pot calling the kettle black. The lies and sophistry continually displayed throughout the impeachment trial by a person with the title of president, along with the shameless antics of passing off accountability to his subordinates, are nothing new for Koreans.

The bigger problem is that lawmakers of the PPP are publicly making statements that basically echo Yoon’s. Yoon’s final statement in court lacked even the most basic level of class, almost no different from the slogans being shouted by the fanatic rallies on the streets. The absurd sophistry, which verges on violence, becomes the official stance of the party and enters the court as statements during hearings. 

Thanks to them, South Korea has become a country to be ashamed of, after being praised internationally as a model advanced nation. During her Nobel lecture, Nobel literature laureate Han Kang highlighted a message written by Park Yong-jun, a young night-school instructor, in his journal the night before he was killed by martial law forces during the Gwangju democratization movement: “Why, God, must I have a conscience that pricks and pains me so? I wish to live.”

If the politicians who claim to represent the people, who clearly have no such conscience, had even a base level of common sense that would endow them with a sense of shame and a desire to save face, then the current situation would have never happened. 

During a conversation he had toward the end of his life, Goethe said that “all eras in a state of decline and dissolution are subjective; on the other hand, all progressive eras have an objective tendency.” The difference between the era where everyone shouts their arguments without listening and the era where public debate based on common sense flourishes is the difference that determines the prosperity or downfall of civilization. 

If we cannot punish a political party that remains trapped in reactionary thinking while abandoning reason and common sense when it comes to impeaching a delusional president who has thrown the country into a crisis, a party that continually prattles off nonsense arguments; if we cannot punish politicians who opportunistically exploit the sweetalking of fanatics, then what will become of our country? 

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]