South Korea’s SEOUL For the first time on Wednesday, North Korean state media covered the political unrest in South Korea, highlighting large-scale demonstrations demanding the overthrow of President Yoon Suk Yeolover and his unsuccessful effort to impose martial law.
After the highly unpopular Yoon, 63, threw the East Asian democracy and important U.S. ally into upheaval with his brief declaration of martial law, North Korea, a nuclear-armed communist state that is officially still at war with the South, remained silent for a week.
Part of Yoon’s defense of the martial law order was the unsubstantiated accusations of North Korean sympathies made against opposition lawmakers.
Yoon’s People Power Party claims he has been effectively suspended from duty, causing social turmoil in South Korea and raising concerns about who is in charge of the tenth-largest economy in the world, according to a report by the state news agency KCNA.
The piece emphasized the domestic resistance Yoon faces in a nation with a long history of military-authoritarian control, primarily drawing from reporting from South Korean and international news outlets.
KCNA reported that puppet Yoon Suk Yeol, who had previously been impeached and facing a severe crisis of governance, suddenly imposed martial law and unleashed the fascist dictatorship’s weapons on the populace.
His craziness, which is reminiscent of the coup during the military dictatorship decades ago, has sparked widespread condemnation, even from the opposition party, and increased public support for his impeachment.
Rob York, director for regional affairs at Pacific Forum, a Honolulu-based foreign policy research firm, said the story was consistent with North Korea’s typical reaction to controversial decisions made by South Korean authorities.
He claimed that North Korean state media is eager to draw attention to South Korean leaders’ shortcomings and autocratic inclinations when they appear, as well as the widespread opposition to them.
In addition to intensifying its rhetoric against South Korea, the US, and other countries, North Korea has been speeding up its weapons testing. However, York stated that it is unlikely to use the political climate in South Korea to launch a military action.
According to him, North Korea is likely aware that the [South Korean] military will be alert for any provocation.
The deployment of some of North Korea’s most elite forces to fight alongside Russia against Ukraine would deter the country even more than the military might of South Korea, which is reinforced by the presence of almost 30,000 American troops, according to York.
It will probably also center on the current unrest in Syria, where Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, was close to Bashar al-Assad, the overthrown ruler.
Amotion to impeach Yoon failedon Saturday when lawmakers from his party boycotted the vote. A second impeachment vote is set to be held this Saturday at 5 p.m. local time (3 a.m. ET), though it is unclear whether that will pass either.
Stella Kim reported from Seoul and Jennifer Jett from Hong Kong.
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