On the 9th, the Ministry of Justice of South Korea announced that it had taken measures to prohibit President Yoon Seok-yeol from leaving the country. This is the first time that a sitting president has been accused of insurrection. On the 7th, the ruling party boycotted the impeachment bill, which did not pass. The opposition party will submit it again this week and a vote will be held over the weekend. The investigation and impeachment procedures are proceeding simultaneously. The key is the trend of public opinion. On the 8th, when I went to the National Assembly, many people were sitting on the road. Caster Ogoe said, "It's a protest rally, but the music playing is Japanese anime songs. Maybe because there are a lot of young people, they are holding penlights. Candles used to be, but now they are penlights. There are a lot of young people, especially women." According to the organizers, 100,000 people gathered in front of the National Assembly that day. Shocked by the president's actions, they were out on the streets. University student (20s): "As a Korean citizen, I cannot forgive this situation. It is an act that destroys the democracy that many people shed their blood to obtain 40 years ago. They must be impeached. I came to protect democracy." University student (20s): "(Q: Why are there so many young women?) None of them thought too deeply about the rally, they just participated to stand up for democracy for once." University student (23): "Martial law has been declared even though we are not in a wartime situation, and many citizens are angry. I am also angry about the boycott of the vote by the People Power Party lawmakers." Why did the leader of a democratic nation take such an outrageous action? There is a suspicion pointed out in the Korean media. It is the influence of far-right YouTubers. Political consultant Park Sung-min: "The president is under the delusion that the real world is fake because the world he imagines is different from the real world. The president and far-right YouTubers claim that the last presidential election was close and that the ruling People Power Party lost the general election because of election fraud, and they are unable to escape from this delusion." In fact, there is a person who has accused President Yoon of being influenced by far-right YouTubers and preaching conspiracy theories. Former ruling party People Power Party lawmaker Kim Ung (June) "President, please stop watching YouTube. If this continues, we, the people, will all die." The general election in April saw the ruling party suffer a major defeat and the Yoon administration find itself in a dead end. Far-right YouTubers were actively calling for "election fraud." With this martial law, the military has stormed not only the National Assembly but also the Election Management Committee. Former Defense Minister Kim Young-hyun, who recommended martial law to the president, said that the purpose was to investigate allegations of election fraud. There are actually other places where the military was deployed during the martial law. A YouTube show known as a progressive show that has been fiercely critical of the Yoon administration. Soldiers gathered outside the studio building where the show was being filmed and blocked the entrances and exits. The show's main host, along with leaders of the ruling and opposition parties, was on President Yoon's "arrest target list." We were able to talk to the YouTuber. YouTuber Kim Oh-joon: "I was at home, and right after the martial law was declared, I got a message saying, 'The arrest and assassination teams are going to be active, so run away immediately.' So I left the house right away. (Q. Were you surprised when you found out you were a target for arrest? Or did you think it was possible?) I thought it was possible. He hates me." He believes that "President Yoon is in his own virtual reality." YouTuber Kim Oh-jung said, "We are living in a virtual reality where people are thinking, 'We are being unfairly attacked by the opposition party with instructions from North Korea. The Republic of Korea is in a dangerous situation and I must save it with my own decision.' This is crazy. Yoon Seok-yeol did not declare martial law, he made the decision to save the country in a virtual reality." We spoke to people not only at the demonstration sites, but also on the streets. Citizen (33): "(Q. No one around me is OK with President Yoon's decision) Young people dislike President Yoon, but that doesn't mean they like the main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Korea. However, right now, our first goal is to bring down the current ruling party and the president." Citizen (71): "(Q. How do you feel about the current situation) As a citizen, I feel miserable. I never imagined something like this would happen." Citizen (56): "Our country has been democratized for quite a long time, and as a country that has achieved economic growth, I thought we had overcome this, but something unrealistic has happened. The best thing to do would be for him to resign, but if he can't, he should be impeached." The ruling party is boycotting the impeachment bill, and the future is unclear. On the other hand, the former defense minister who recommended martial law has been detained by prosecutors, and he himself has been banned from leaving the country, so it seems that the investigation is narrowing in scope. Political consultant Park Sung-min: "There is no way that the opposition Democratic Party of Korea will accept a national unity cabinet, and the ruling People Power Party will not impeach him. Therefore, the quickest way to suspend him from office is for the investigative authorities to arrest him. I cannot say for sure, but with many people now calling for the president to step down, be impeached, and be arrested, the confusion is likely to intensify as time goes on, so I think the investigative authorities may arrest him quite quickly." ◆We ask anchor Ogoe, who is in South Korea, where the president is in a state of flux due to impeachment. (Q. Listening to the voices of people in Seoul, how do you feel about the situation surrounding President Yoon?) Anchor Ogoe: "President Yoon is not just backed into a corner, but is in a situation where he is completely surrounded by no way out. I have interviewed many people. From what I have heard, almost everyone, including conservatives, has strongly criticized the president. The voices calling for him to "resign himself" are still on the gentle side, and the overwhelming majority of people are in favor of impeachment and arrest. And what they all had in common was that no one could understand why the president had to declare martial law. The most persuasive theory was that the president himself had become obsessed with some kind of conspiracy theory and staged a coup himself. In other words, the reality that martial law is so incomprehensible that the leader of one's own country could resort to such an act is what has ignited people's sense of crisis. (Q. The opposition party continues to aim for impeachment, but is the confusion in the Diet likely to continue?) Anchor Ogoe: "A well-known political consultant close to the ruling party that I interviewed expressed the view that "this issue may not be resolved at the political level." The ruling party is reluctant to hand over the initiative to the opposition party. No matter how many times an impeachment motion is submitted, they will continue to refuse it and will try to buy time. It has also been suggested that a more likely scenario is that the prosecution will take the lead in arresting and detaining the president on charges such as treason, and that only then will both the ruling and opposition parties get serious about choosing the next presidential candidate. It is said that South Korea's Ministry of Justice is also considering banning the First Lady Kim Kun-hee from leaving the country. As of today, the biggest concern is the movements of the president and his wife, who have yet to be seen, and their close aides." (Q: Rallies are being held every day in the heart of Seoul. What is motivating these people?) Anchorman Okoshi: "In a word, it's the power of public opinion. I feel that the people of South Korea know from personal experience that public opinion actually moves politics. In the past, we have seen the impeachment and removal from office of former President Park Geun-hye, but this time, the president is being charged with treason, which is an unprecedented and serious incident, so I think this is all the more true. And then there are young people who have shared their negative experiences during the military regime. These young people have joined the rally. In a venue where K-pop is blaring, they are expressing their political opinions in a more casual way. I think you could say that this is a feature of this rally. Last night at a restaurant in the city, a man in his 30s said, "The younger generation in Seoul are not usually particularly interested in politics or the economy, but this time I think their patience has really run out." Coincidentally, the president's shocking move to declare martial law appears to have awakened young people." (C) CABLE NEWS NETWORK 2024 [TV Asahi News] https://news.tv-asahi.co.jp