Embattled South Korea president’s last stand found new sympathisers — conspiracy-fuelled right-wing YouTubers

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Supporters of impeached South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol holds a placard showing a picture of the president as supporters gather near the presidential residence in Seoul on January 1, 2025.

SEOUL Jan 1 — Camped on the street winding up to the residence of South Korea’s impeached president, protesters direct vitriol at police and echo obscure conspiracies as investigators prepare to execute a warrant for his arrest.

Suspended leader Yoon Suk Yeol claimed “anti-state elements” and electoral fraud were plaguing the country as he made his bungled bid to instate martial law last month, before it was voted down and he was impeached.

South Korea’s constitutional court will rule on whether to uphold his impeachment as Yoon also faces a growing probe — and possible imprisonment or the death penalty — for “insurrection”.

But a small band of right-wing supporters spurred on by popular YouTubers have refused to leave his side as he attempts to fend off arrest.

“The president’s martial law declaration was meant to take down the anti-state forces who are now bent on destroying this nation,” one speaker declared Wednesday to a crowd holding up anti-impeachment placards.

Controversial pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon, a darling of South Korea’s far right, earlier called on his supporters on YouTube to assemble to “resist the injustice” of the arrest warrant.

“The warrant is completely invalid, the people’s right to resist stands above the Constitution,” he said.

Shin Hae-shik, who runs a YouTube channel with 1.6 million followers, took centre stage at the hundreds-strong rally, calling on an “army of the people” to defend Yoon.

“The people have spoken,” he declared, claiming that bigger numbers turning out in favour of the president’s removal were “lies made up by the left”.

A short police line is all that separates the angry crowd from Yoon’s residence, and the supporters seem intent on defending him against arrest.

‘To the dogs’

Rife with nationalist sentiment and strident anti-communism, the ire of conspiracy theorists is often directed at liberal politicians — accused of being in league with North Korea to undermine the South.

As night fell, the crowd waved glowsticks and American flags — symbols of their anti-Pyongyang stance.

Im Hyeon-hwa, 67, stayed overnight in front of Yoon’s residence, fearful that police might make their move in darkness before a January 6 deadline.

“It was cold and tiring, but we have to stand firm as we don’t know what they’ll do,” she said.

The woman claimed police were taking marching orders from “communists” running the country’s largest opposition party.

Yoon alluded to such claims in his martial law declaration — specifically that South Korea’s voting system may have been infiltrated by communist forces in a landslide parliamentary election win for the opposition in April.

Soldiers were not only sent to the country’s National Assembly — but also to the National Election Commission on the night of December 3.

Lee Jae-jin, a dentist from Busan city, said it was this theory which pushed him to travel across the country to join the rally.

“They impeached the president after he tried to reveal the truth behind election fraud,” he said.

At one point a few of Yoon’s diehard supporters broke through the cordon to block a police bus from parking near the entrance of his residence, seemingly anxious the officers may have been moving to detain him.

But the crowd was mostly made up of elderly locals who believed the anti-left rhetoric, and wanted to use their voices in support of the disgraced leader.

Hwang Seon-yeol, 77, said he would rather go to the grave than see Yoon removed. “If this happens, our country will go to the dogs,” he said. — AFP