Fr O'Keeffe: the roots and the real dangers of the long clash over Yoon in Seoul
An Irish missionary in South Korea for almost fifty years, he explains to AsiaNews how current divisions within South Korean society have developed. For Fr Donal O'Keeffe, the situation is progressing "slowly", and is not a total stalemate. The country lacks prominent figures capable of taking over the reins of power and give it a clear direction.
Seoul (AsiaNews) – After the 2022 presidential elections, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, despite his win, was convinced that "anti-state forces" had tampered with the electoral process, because his party, the People Power Party or PPP, had prevailed by only 0.73 per cent of the vote.
“He was convinced that he would win by a much wider margin, so he immediately suspected electoral fraud,” said Fr Donal O'Keeffe, an Irish missionary of the Society of St Columbanus, speaking on the current political stalemate in the country.
After Yoon Suk-yeol declared (and then revoked) martial law on 3 December, South Korea has entered a phase of political crisis from which the country is emerging "slowly but surely," said the missionary, who has lived in South Korea since 1976, speaking to AsiaNews.
Yesterday, the attorney general indicted the conservative president, currently in detention, for insurrection. The Constitutional Court has already started proceedings
to rule on his impeachment by the National Assembly.
Everything revolves around the controversial figure of Yoon Suk-yeol, who is a “former prosecutor and had no experience at all in actual politics. He came in from being chief prosecutor through an unusual series of events to become the candidate of the conservative party,” Fr O’Keeffe explained.
Since coming to power, Yoon has not been able to talk with the opposition. “For two full years, he refused to meet with the leader of the opposition party,” and “used the veto 25 times”.
Following the “parliamentary elections of April 2024, he claimed that the vote was rigged, and tried to challenge the results but the Election Commission rejected it.
Meanwhile, his popularity ratings were in a free fall. The proclamation of martial law should therefore be seen as a desperate attempt to stay in power.
"Yoon Suk-yeol is blaming subordinates, while his defence team is referring to all these false news,” spread by far-right YouTubers via social media. “One of about the Chinese, allied with anti-state forces in [South] Korea to rig the elections. YouTube clips later turned out to be about a group of Chinese arrested for illegal fishing four years ago," the Irish missionary said.
"Now the country is being destabilised by fake news, mistrust and divisions. For me, the problem is about the future and these seeds of distrust and discontent that have been planted,” he lamented.
For Fr Donal, who has worked for a long time with factory workers and is now involved in training South Korean missionaries, there has always been a very active anti-communist element within South Korean society.
"These people are obsessed with communists and North Korea, and are also supported by small fundamentalist Churches. They believe that these 'anti-state forces' want to undermine the liberal capitalism that underpins South Korea's prosperity.
“It is a group that rises to prominence at different times, but to which another group has now been added, that of young males between 20 and 30 who are opposed to female emancipation.”
Although all the data and statistics point to a strong marginalisation of women due to a traditional patriarchal system, Yoon's government denied that there was a structural gender gap in society.
“According to several surveys, the positions of power occupied by women in [South] Korea are lower than those of other countries with the same level of education. The MeToo movement has put a strain on customs and traditions, so young South Korean men have begun to feel threatened.”
In addition, the number of graduates has risen a lot in recent years and competitiveness in the labour market is stiffer, generating great concerns among young people and a general sense of uncertainty.
Studies of the 2022 vote show that women voted in favour of the opposition, represented by the Democratic Party of Korea, while men favoured Yoon Suk-yeol and the PPP; this division became evident during the recent demonstrations for and against Yoon's impeachment with many women immediately mobilising against the proclamation of martial law, while men backed the president.
Many fear something like what happened in the aftermath of Joe Biden's electoral victory in the United States, when Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol on 6 January 2021. During pro-Yoon protests, several protesters wore red caps that read, "Make America Great Again".
"If there are new elections, people will probably not accept the results," noted Fr Donal, who in 2021 received an award from the South Korean government for his work with vulnerable communities.
"But the situation has been made even more confused by Trump's statements a few days ago about North Korea as a nuclear power and that he wanted to engage in dialogue with Pyongyang. So far, South Korea and Japan have built their alliance against North Korea, but it seems that Trump has thrown everything out the window.”
Even though no solution seems available, the situation is progressing, "slowly but surely," Fr. O'Keeffe reiterated.
"At first, it seemed that they would not be able to arrest Yoon because he had locked himself in the presidential residence. The finance minister who is now playing the role of president and prime minister appointed two justices to the Constitutional Court. Three posts were vacant and they chose two. It means that things are progressing somehow."
Disapproval of the declaration of martial law was unanimous in South Korean society. However, for Fr Donal, "the leader of the opposition, Lee Jae-myung, a very competent politician, is under investigation for corruption. The opposition in general has been accused of having relentlessly impeached members of the government.
“In reality, not even the conservative parties have a candidate for the presidency. There is no prominent person on the horizon. So they are trying to use this situation to weaken a very popular leader by accusing him of being a criminal.”
For now, several names of politicians who might replace Yoon's place are circulating, but no decision has been made. The process of re-establishing democracy in South Korea may still take a long while.
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