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Yoon has been a deeply divisive leader since winning the presidency by less than 1 per cent in March 2022. In a sign of his deepening unpopularity, the Democratic Party boosted its majority at elections in April to hold 175 of the 300 seats in the National Assembly, while Yoon’s conservative People Power Party slid back to 108 seats.
His time in office has also been marked by scandal, including incidents involving his wife, Kim Keon Hee. Yoon was forced to issue an apology after video footage emerged of his wife appearing to accept a luxury Dior handbag from a pastor who filmed the exchange, but he also vetoed a special counsel bill that would have triggered an investigation.
Kim has also been accused of being involved in a 63.6 billion won ($69 million) stock price manipulation case, over which prosecutors ultimately declined to indict her.
More broadly, experts have noted Yoon’s illiberal tendencies, including his disdain for the media, which he regularly attacks as “fake news”, and his administration’s willingness to use defamation suits, libel laws, and financial penalties to target media organisations that had engaged in critical coverage.
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Perhaps the clearest sign of Yoon’s wild overstep in pulling the martial law lever, and his imperiled path bank from the brink to restore normalcy, is the outrage within his own party.
“This is an unlawful and unconstitutional declaration of martial law. The Republic of Korea is a free democracy, and we will protect our democracy with the people,” PPP leader Han Dong-hoon said.
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