A stunning two weeks in South Korea
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 16 December 2024
⏱️ 28 minutes
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Summary
Hundreds of thousands of protestors celebrated in Seoul over the weekend as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached by the National Parliament.
Yoon, who was elected by a narrow margin in 2022, oversaw deepening political divisions and a population increasingly frustrated by income inequality. His tenure was marked by scandals and unpopular choices. But his administration reached a breaking point when Yoon declared martial law in early December, outraging many Koreans who saw the move as an unwelcome return to the authoritarian rule of decades past.
Washington Post Tokyo bureau chief Michelle Ye Hee Lee was among the crowd celebrating outside the National Assembly, talking to protestors about why they were so excited to see the president impeached. She joins “Post Reports” to explain how Yoon fell from power, who will lead the country next and what lessons other countries can take from a tense 11 days in South Korea.
Today’s show was produced by Emma Talkoff with help from Elana Gordon and Sabby Robinson.
It was edited by Maggie Penman with help from Lucy Perkins, and mixed by Sam Bair.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Over the weekend, South Korean President Yun Sukyul was impeached. |
| 0:06.4 | It was the culmination of a dramatic 11 days. |
| 0:10.1 | And when Yun was finally voted out by the parliament, the reaction wasn't just one of excitement. |
| 0:16.5 | It was almost like a concert. |
| 0:19.2 | It's absolute celebration out here outside the National Assembly. |
| 0:22.9 | And so after the impeachment vote passed, people are crying, hugging, playing music, singing, chanting. |
| 0:33.9 | This is Michelle Yehili. She covers South Korea for the Post. |
| 0:38.5 | She was among the hundreds of thousands of people gathered on Saturday outside the building where the vote to push out President Yun took place. |
| 0:47.4 | It was almost freezing out, but Michelle said that it didn't feel cold because there were so many people back together. |
| 0:58.0 | Yeah. that it didn't feel cold because there were so many people back together. This impeachment was the end of a tense period that started on December 3rd, when President |
| 1:03.7 | Yun briefly declared martial law. Now that he's been removed from power, at least for now, |
| 1:10.0 | we wanted to talk with Michelle to understand the significance of this moment. |
| 1:14.5 | This has been an incredibly tumultuous two weeks in South Korea. |
| 1:17.7 | The biggest political crisis the country has faced in decades, and it began with the six-hour martial law and ended with an impeachment. |
| 1:32.4 | Part of why people were celebrating in the street over the weekend and feeling so relieved is because this declaration of martial law called to mind a painful recent history. |
| 1:39.3 | South Koreans remember what it's like to live under a military dictatorship when martial law happened over and over again |
| 1:46.8 | to control people's freedom, to tamp down political dissent. It was a violent and scary time that |
| 1:53.0 | Koreans don't want to go back to. Yet in 2024, they saw a return to it under this president. In this |
| 2:00.8 | modern age, when South Korea is better known for K-pop and K-Beauty |
| 2:04.5 | than for its authoritarian past. |
| 2:06.6 | So it's been a really traumatic and horrific time for so many South Koreans that this could happen again. |
| 2:12.6 | And in the middle of all this celebration about Yun's impeachment, |
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