South Korean citizens recommended for Nobel Peace Prize over martial law resistance
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Protesters marching through central Seoul on Dec 4, 2024, after the declaration of martial law by then South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol.
PHOTO: ST FILE
SEOUL – South Korean citizens have been recommended as candidates for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for their collective resistance to former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s imposition of martial law on Dec 3, 2024.
Seoul National University professor Kim Eui-young said on Feb 19 that several political scientists – including former and current leaders of the International Political Science Association – submitted the nomination in January to the Norwegian Nobel Committee on behalf of what they call the “Citizen Collective”.
The nominators described the citizens’ actions as a “Revolution of Light,” referring to the lightsticks raised by protesters who took to the streets.
They characterised the movement as a model of non-violent civic participation against what courts have since ruled was an illegal and unconstitutional act of insurrection.
On Dec 3 and 4, 2024, citizens gathered at politically significant sites, including in front of the national assembly, where police and military units had set up blockades to prevent lawmakers from entering.
After the assembly voted to force Yoon to lift the decree within six hours, nationwide protests continued, calling for his impeachment and criminal accountability.
“The world watched with wonder as Korea overcame insurrection and reinstated democracy in just six months, at a time of global democratic recession,” Prof Kim said, adding that citizens were central to that process.
“Just as K-pop and K-drama are contributing positively to the world, ‘K-democracy’ stands on the same level,” he said.
President Lee Jae Myung also praised the public on social media platform X, saying, “This was possible because it was Korea, a great nation of the people who will serve as a model for human history.”
Mr Lee said he believes the South Korean people deserved one of the world’s most prestigious honors.
“If the people of Korea receive the Nobel Peace Prize for restoring peace and demonstrating the value of democracy to the world, it would mark a major turning point for countries shaken by conflict and division,” Mr Lee said.
The 2026 Nobel Prize announcements will take place from Oct 5 to Oct 12, with the Peace Prize laureate scheduled to be named on Oct 9.
The Nobel Prize may be awarded to up to three individuals or groups. Past organisational recipients of the Peace Prize include the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Food Programme, which received the award in 2020.
Two South Koreans have previously received Nobel Prizes – former president Kim Dae-jung, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000, and author Han Kang, who received the Nobel Prize in literature in 2024.
Yoon is currently on trial over the martial law declaration, which the Constitutional Court ruled unconstitutional in confirming his impeachment.
Criminal courts have also defined the move as an act of insurrection in trials of several former officials, including former prime minister Han Duck-soo, who was sentenced to 23 years in prison in January. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
