The President of S Korea impeachment kills old communist fear and conspiracies

In a cold afternoon of January, a young pharmacy student, Shin Jicong-Min, was waiting comfortably outside the constitutional court of South Korea, as the suspended President of the country arrived to fight his impeachment.

When Suk Yeol testified, he chanting with hundreds of inflammatory and concerned supporters who have ralled around him since his unsuccessful attempt to implement martial law. “Now leave him. Cancel his impeachment,” they shouted.

“If the President is impeachment and the opposition leader is elected, our country will be united with North Korea and Kim Jong Un,” Jong-Min said, citing a theory popular among the most staunch followers of President: That the Left-Hukavas party wants to unite with the north and convert South Korea into a communist country.

At the age of 22, Jyong-Min is standing out of the army of Korean people who have always expressed their apprehension and despised, and create the wholesale of those who hold these distant conspiracy beliefs .

The generation of Korean people, now in the 60s and 70s, lived through the Cold War and in the 1950s recalled the devastating later of the North Korea’s invasion.

When Yun declared martial law in early December, he played on these apprehensions to justify his power.

Citing evidence, he claimed that “North Korean Communist forces” had infiltrated the opposition party and were trying to overthrow the country. He needed to “eradicate”, he said, as he proceeded rapidly to ban political activity and make the army in charge.

Two months later from its unsuccessful coup, a communist is holding supporters, young and old.

Even some who had never thought a lot to North Korea or Communism, are now convinced that their dynamic democracy is on the verge of turning into a leftist dictatorship – and that their leader has to save them from both There was no option but to remove democratic rights. Pyongyang and Beijing.

“This is a war between communism and democracy,” in its 40s, an office worker said, who was out of work to join the court.

Another person, in his 30s, confidently argued that the President had to return to the office as soon as possible. “He is going to arrest all North Korean spies,” he said.

Such threats were once very real. During the 1960s and 70s, the spies will regularly try to infiltrate the government.

In 1968, a group of North Korean commandos crawled on the border and tried to kill the then President Park Chung-Hi. A tree above the Baghk mountain of Seoul still tolerates a bullet mark from the battle of intensive gun for about two weeks.

In the 1980s, during the last years of South Korea’s violent military dictatorship, a radical far-wide student movement began to praise Pyongyang’s “superior” political system. He was labeled “sympathy”.

It was also common for the North Korean conspiracies to accuse their political opponents to accuse their political opponents.

“Communism became the main ideology of the military dictators of South Korea, who used it to justify the society and justify the freedom of the people,” said Shin Jin-Huk said, “Communism said,” Communism said, “Communism said,” Communism said.

Today, these dangers have disintegrated. Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and advanced cyber-hacking capabilities pose more risk, and you will struggle to find anyone in South Korea who want to imitrse life in the north. Political left and right are only divided on how to deal with their troubled neighbors.

While the conservative people’s approach of the conservative People’s Power Party is trying to introduce the answer with military superiority, the left-wet Democratic party prefers to join with Pyongyang, the two countries co-existence peacefully May be believed in.

The President has been accused of exploiting the historical apprehensions of the people. Mr. Shin said, “Yun’s rhetoric almost completely matches the previous dictators, and he is the first President to use this anti -communist ideology, as Korea became a democracy in 1987,” said Shri Shin.

Not only Non has accused Parliament, under the leadership of the opposition Democratic Party, Pyongyang is full of sympathizers, but he threatened the idea that North Korea with the help of China, in the last year’s parliamentary election Rigged.

“It is a fake news that Youon is cooked to show the opposition and to justify his completely undemocratic move,” a legalist of the Democratic Party, Y Sung-Lac told the BBC.

“We have a long history of fighting for democracy and freedom in Korea. We are the ones who managed to thwart Korea’s attempt to destroy democracy,” he said, referring to opposition politicians Pushed the previous soldiers and climbed the walls of Parliament. Martial law to vote for motion.

Such views were previously pedaling by extreme orthodox groups, Lee Sangsin said, a polling specialist at the Korea Institute for National Unification.

“These groups were isolated. People did not take much notice,” they explained. “But because he is the President, his words take weight, and many people have admitted what he said.”

This was clear in one of the weekend rallies we participated last month. Away from being a dye-hard conspiracy theorist, almost everyone said that we have changed their thinking.

“At first I did not support Yun, but Marshall Law opened my eyes,” 57-year-old musician, Oh Jung-Huuk said with his wife. “We can see how deeply the leftist strength in our society is embedded.” In the 40s, a woman told us that she had doubts about Chinese vote rigging first, but did research on the issue after martial law and “this was true”.

The supporters of Yun often point to real events-how the President of the previous Democratic Party, Moon Jae-in, met Kim Jong Un, who tries to orkstrate a peace deal; The current Democratic leader, Lee J -Mumb, is being investigated to help send millions of dollars to North Korea – then use them as evidence of a large plot.

Mr. Shin, Professor of Sociology, said, “It is the principle of distant plot that China has rigged the election.” “One of the most basic consensus in democracy is the basis of fair and free elections, and now we have mistrust of people. It is very extreme.”

As such unbalanced claims have taken roots, their support has grown. However, most of the people in South Korea still want that the number has fallen from the post permanently. Last week it was 57%Compared to 75% a week after martial law announcement.

Through his anti-communist rhetoric, Yun has also effectively tapped into a boiled mistrust of China. Fearing North Korea means to be careful with China.

At a recent weekend rally in Seoul, several supporters had exchanged “Stop the Steel” election fraud for people reading their trademarks “stolen” election fraud “Chinese Communist Party Out”.

66-year-old Jeeon-Deok said, “I believe that China is interfering in all political matters in South Korea. It is pulling the wire behind the curtain.”

According to the polling expert, Mr. Lee, “An increasing part of the public now believes that China wants to convert South Korea into some kind of vassal state”.

China is a more reliable threat for those who have never experienced real danger from North Korea in the 20 and 30s. Last year, the Pew Research Center found that South Korea and Hungary were only two countries where The youth had a more negative attitude about China Compared to the old.

Cho Jin-Man, a political scientist at Duksung Women’s University, said that the information they are being fed has nothing to do with the communism of young people.

Recently, South Koreans felt that their country was better than China, Mr. Cho explained – but as Beijing has become strong and more vocal. Started watching it as a dangerEspecially since the US started treating it.

At her top, young people have a lot of complaints: they are struggling to find work or to bear the expenses of the house, and feel resentment when they see their universities eating for Chinese students.

Communism, Mr. Cho believes, is being used as a convenient catch-all bogman to overcome fear and hatred. This message is amplified by remote youtube channels, especially popular with young men.

“North Korea and China are my biggest concerns,” 30-year-old IT developer Kim Gayang-Ju said, who came alone for one of the rallies. He was a leftist like his friends, he said, and was initially very important for the President’s martial law order. But after researching the issue on YouTube, he realized that martial law was “unavoidable”.

“If I were in the position of the President, I would have declared it too,” he said.

However, Y Sung-Lab Opposition politician is not worried about losing support to his party. “Even if these extreme views are spreading, they will be limited,” he said. “Most people understand who we really are, and they are craving for the return of generality.”

Polling expert Lee Song-Sin is a lower song, which makes supporters of Yun compared to “a fast growing creed”. The President’s move was “very divisive”, he said.

“This is going to be a permanent impact on the Korean society”.

Additional reporting by Hosu Lee and Lihun Choi