South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s arrogant attitude, which has ignored public protests and opposition clamour for two years, is now costing him his position. Country’s people were shocked by the sudden decision to impose military rule and took to the streets in their millions. They demanded the immediate withdrawal of the dictatorial declaration. Overcoming the obstacles of the military, members of parliament debated all night in the house and voted against the dictatorial decision. The main opposition Democratic Party, four other smaller parties, and 18 members of the official party opposed the president’s declaration. With this, South Korea was freed from the clutches of military rule in just six hours.
Inflation picks up
The South Korean economy, which has been run by the US since 1953, is shrinking. It is struggling to pay wages in line with rising prices. US military forces have been stationed in South Korea for 70 years under the name of a mutual defense treaty. South Korea is also running in line with US economic policies. South Korea's ruling parties boast that their country is doing great with the US military and cooperation. In contrast, the country's economic situation is deteriorating. The living standards of the people have further declined under the rule of the current President Yoon.
Political instability after elections
Yoon Suk Yeol, who was elected president by a narrow margin of 0.8 percent of the vote in 2022, lost public support before serving two years. In the parliamentary elections held in April 2024, his People's Power Party won only 114 seats out of 300. The main opposition Democratic Party won 156 seats. Since then, the president's failures have increased. Employees and labour movements have also gained momentum outside parliament. Junior doctors went on strike last February against the government's policies in the medical sector. The government issued a decree that if they did not immediately end the strike and return to work, they would be fined 18,000 pounds and sentenced to three years in prison. This is just one example of the president's response to public problems! This authoritarian attitude towards all sectors of the society continued.
Price rise become propaganda weapon
Even though the prices of essential commodities increased four to five times, no relief measures were taken. Onion prices increased drastically and became a propaganda weapon for the opposition in the April elections. While the people were agitated by problems like high prices and unemployment, Yoon undertook a space militarization project costing 300 billion dollars to saturate America. Protests were expressed among the people and workers on this.
Huge cuts to the welfare budget
The opposition parties strongly opposed the budget recently introduced in Parliament. They made it clear that this section, which made huge cuts to the welfare sector, would not be accepted under any circumstances. With this, the president made baseless accusations. He countered by saying that the opposition was colluding with North Korea and committing treason. He imposed military rule and tried to overthrow democracy. The people and their representatives responded immediately and overthrew that dictatorship. The opposition introduced an impeachment motion against President Yoon, who had unilaterally used the weapon of military rule without following any rules. On the other hand, the labour unions warned that Yoon should resign immediately; otherwise they would launch a nationwide strike. Yoon is going to set an example of what happens if you ignore the will of the people and follow dictatorial trends!
