As investigators tried to arrest president Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday morning, his supporters gathered exterior the presidential residence waving two nationwide flags: the South Korean Taegukgi alongside the American Stars and Stripes.
To outsiders, the sudden mixture could appear baffling. However to Yoon’s supporters, America represents greater than an ally: it’s a perceived best. The symbolism of the US flag is a declaration of a broader cultural and non secular order they consider is beneath risk.
Holding each flags exterior Yoon’s residence on Friday, 74-year-old Pyeong In-su stated the police needed to be stopped by “patriotic residents” and he hoped US president-elect Donald Trump might come to Yoon’s support.
“I hope after Trump’s inauguration he can use his affect to assist our nation get again heading in the right direction,” he stated, as he waved each flags with the message: “Let’s go collectively” in English and Korean.
Whereas pro-Yoon teams criticise their opponents as being subservient to North Korea, they freely venerate the US.
They ceaselessly remind followers that the US liberated Korea from Japanese colonial rule and defended it in the course of the Korean battle of 1950-53, casting America as a divine protector of democracy embedded in Christian values.
Over current years, these teams, which stay a fringe component of South Korean society, have more and more adopted rhetoric from the American proper, notably round claims of election fraud.
This narrative has intensified since Yoon’s short-lived declaration of martial legislation this December, which he justified by claiming electoral manipulation and the presence of “pro-North Korean, anti-state forces” – actions that led to his impeachment and present arrest warrant.
With echoes of claims of election denial actions within the US, a Korea Analysis ballot launched this week confirmed that 65% of Yoon’s conservative Folks Energy Social gathering supporters consider final April’s parliamentary elections had been fraudulent, regardless of solely 29% of most of the people sharing this view.
The elections noticed the opposition events together with the Democratic occasion win a decisive victory, securing 192 seats within the 300-seat parliament. No main election observers or courtroom has raised considerations concerning the vote, with fraud claims debunked as unsubstantiated.
Regardless, the allegations have been amplified by way of a community of far-right YouTube channels, the place conservative commentators livestream the rallies and promote a variety of conspiracy theories.
These on-line echo chambers, which Yoon himself has been accused of counting on for info, have change into key platforms for spreading unfounded claims and sustaining supporter morale.
In each South Korea and the US, related techniques have been noticed: questioning election integrity, claiming ethical authority by way of non secular values, and portraying political opponents as enemies of the state.
The unlikely hyperlinks between the actions might be traced again to the rise in evangelical Protestant church buildings in South Korea, which kind the spine of Yoon’s most ardent help base. Many of those church buildings had been based by Christians who fled communist persecution in North Korea earlier than the Korean battle, embedding a fierce anti-communist ideology into their non secular identification.
These church buildings, together with the influential Sarang Jeil church led by populist pastor Jeon Gwang-hoon, maintain common rallies in central Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Sq. to denounce any opposition as “communist forces” who deserve the loss of life penalty.
Their weekly gatherings usually function simultaneous English translation on stage and livestreams concentrating on American audiences, with US checking account particulars displayed for worldwide donations.
The impeached chief has additionally tapped into the messaging. On New Yr’s Day, Yoon himself strengthened their narrative in a defiant message to supporters, warning of “forces infringing on sovereignty” whereas vowing to “struggle till the top”. He admitted watching their YouTube broadcasts.
At Friday’s rally exterior his residence, protesters held banners in Korean claiming “election fraud” and in English, “Cease The Steal”. When requested for particular proof of electoral manipulation, none might reply.
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