How Yoon Suk Yeol alienated much of South Korea, one group at a time
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Mr Yoon Suk Yeol giving a public address from his official residence in Seoul on Dec 14 after his impeachment. He said he would "step aside" after parliament voted to remove him from office, urging an end to "politics of excess and confrontation".
PHOTO: AFP
SEOUL - Angry rice farmers. Striking doctors. A US$2,200 (S$2,970) Dior bag.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol may have sealed his political fate on Dec 3, when he declared martial law, triggering public outrage. And on Dec 14, the National Assembly voted to impeach Mr Yoon,
But even before his brief imposition of military rule, voters were furious with a series of scandals and unpopular decisions since he took office. Amid growing inequality, rising prices and escalating threats from North Korea, his controversial leadership had left him with some of the lowest approval ratings in South Korea’s history.
Here is how Mr Yoon lost the trust of much of his electorate.
2022
March
Mr Yoon was voted into office by the thinnest margin since South Korea began holding free presidential elections in 1987. Within days, he announced a controversial plan to relocate the Defence Ministry so his office could move into its compound, at a cost to taxpayers of about US$41 million.
May
Weeks into his term, two of his Cabinet nominees withdrew after being accused of nepotism. Three more would resign within months.
September
A media outlet published a recording of Mr Yoon apparently using an expletive to refer to US lawmakers after a meeting with US President Joe Biden. Mr Yoon called the report “fake news”, and members of his party tried to enter the broadcaster’s offices. Mr Yoon has repeatedly gone after journalists and news organisations that criticised him, leading to accusations of censorship and backsliding on democratic values.
October
Halloween celebrations in Itaewon, a lively Seoul neighbourhood, turned into disaster when 159 young people were killed in a crowd crush. Grieving families were furious at the government. Records showed that authorities had missed several opportunities to prevent such a catastrophe. But the government insisted it was not responsible for public safety that night because the festivities were not an official event. Mr Yoon blamed officers in the field and refused to apologise.
2023
March
Pushing to mend ties with Tokyo, Mr Yoon announced that his government would no longer seek compensation from Japan for subjecting Koreans to forced labour during World War II, saying it would instead pay the victims itself. Mr Biden praised the deal, but critics at home cast the decision as a surrender to South Korea’s former coloniser.
April
Citing concerns about overproduction, Mr Yoon vetoed a Bill that would have required the government to buy surplus rice to stabilise prices. Farmers have since taken to the streets to demand the Bill’s return.
May
Tens of thousands of nurses went on strike after Mr Yoon vetoed legislation meant to improve their pay and working conditions. He pointed to reservations that doctors and nursing assistants had expressed about the Bill.
August
Mr Yoon’s endorsement of nearby Japan’s plan to discharge treated radioactive wastewater from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant set off a public backlash.
November
Video taken with a hidden camera showed Mr Yoon’s wife Kim Keon Hee accepting an expensive Dior pouch. She had been accused of questionable financial dealings before Mr Yoon took office. Lawmakers passed a Bill requiring an investigation into the claims, but he vetoed it, denying that his wife had done anything wrong.
December
Mr Yoon vetoed a union-backed Bill that would have limited companies’ ability to sue workers for losses during strikes. With wages stagnant, metal workers, who are vital to South Korea’s automobile and shipbuilding industries, had been protesting the government’s labour policies for months.
2024
February
Trainee doctors walked off the job, demanding better pay and working conditions and protesting Mr Yoon’s plan to dramatically increase medical school enrollment. Some senior doctors soon decided to join the strike for one day a week. Many patients blamed the disruptions on the president’s unwillingness to compromise.
April
In parliamentary elections, voters gave the opposition 187 of the National Assembly’s 300 seats, one of the largest majorities in decades. The results were widely seen as a verdict on Mr Yoon, and his approval rating hit a new low - 23 per cent.
May
Mr Yoon vetoed a Bill calling for a special investigation into the death of a marine and its aftermath. The marine died in 2023 while on a mission to rescue flood victims; it was later revealed that his team had not been given life jackets. An officer who investigated the case accused Mr Yoon of pressuring the Defence Ministry to whitewash the matter.
November
Demanding wage protections, the country’s largest trade union organiser announced plans for tens of thousands of railway, subway and school workers to strike during the first week of December.
Dec 3
Mr Yoon declared martial law – but he withdrew the order six hours later,
After his impeachment on Dec 14, he addressed the nation and listed what he considered his accomplishments during his term. He vowed to fight on in the Constitutional Court.
“I will never give up,” he said. NYTIMES
