A dramatic power grab in South Korea through martial law was undone in just six hours, and President Yoon Suk Yeol impeached a couple of weeks later, showing how an alert parliament and polity can quickly arrest a stunning slide in democracy. It holds lessons for the entire democratic world where brute majority in the house of the people often tends to sow seeds of authoritarianism in the ruling class irrespective of checks and balances.
Rushing through the legislative business without giving parliament enough time to examine it can lead to a groundswell of resentment and send people to the streets demanding corrective action.
Evolving consensus across the aisle in any legislature irrespective of the head count is what democracy is all about. It demands patience, skill, and perseverance. But Yoon was a man in a hurry. He used lawsuits and criminal investigations to clamp down on free speech, mainly targeting the news media for spreading ‘disinformation’.
Donald Trump’s insurrection after losing the presidential vote in the US four years ago was another example of democratic institutions being subjected to severe tests. Lakhs of people dancing on the streets in Seoul after the successful impeachment showed the nation’s resilience against anti-democratic forces.
In South Korea, Yoon won the presidential mandate in 2022 by a whisker. But he ended up being the first president in decades dealing with an opposition-controlled parliament for his entire tenure as his party failed to get a majority - just 108 in a 300-member House. That dissonance and his lack of political experience - he joined the ruling party in 2021 after a long career as a prosecutor - possibly made him impatient.
Yoon blamed the opposition for paralysing the administration, raised the North Korean bogey to justify martial law, and sent the armed forces to parliament to thwart a vote against it. But the opposition was smarter and managed to vote it out. With his job approval rating dipping to just 11 percent, Yoon offered a public apology. However, the damage was done. While the ruling party boycotted the first impeachment motion, he lost the second vote by a massive 204-85 margin.
With Yoon’s powers suspended, seasoned Prime Minister Han Duck-soo took over as interim president. South Korea’s Constitutional Court has up to 180 days to decide if impeachment was the right call. The drama isn’t over yet. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty - and democracy.