Who is Yoon Suk Yeol, Prosecutor Turned Politician?

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, has just shown that a lot can be done and undone overnight. The 61-year-old President declared a nationwide emergency by imposing martial law, one that would replace the current civilian government with military rule, in a public address on television on Tuesday night. He said that the “anti-state forces” and sympathetic outlook of his political opposition for North Korea led him to take the sudden step. The move was important to "rebuild the free Republic of Korea” and protect the country from “North Korea’s communist forces”, he added. 

But within a few hours of the imposition, public protests and criticism from the political parties, including the President’s own People Power Party, led the declaration to be reconsidered by the national assembly of the South Korean Parliament. Consequently, the emergency law was revoked after 190 out of the total 300 members of parliament voted against the law. Moreover, the opposition party lawmakers have tabled a bill to impeach the President. Nearly two-thirds of the total 300 members need to vote in favour of his impeachment to oust him. 

President's Journey from Court to Parliament 

Yoon Suk Yeol, a lawyer by profession, rose from the ranks of local and national prosecutor’s offices to occupy the chair of President of South Korea in 2022. He served as the prosecutor general of South Korea under former President Moon Jae-in from 2019 to 2021. However, owing to differences with Moon, he later resigned. 

Soon after the resignation, he announced that he would contest the 2022 presidential elections. Thereafter, leaving his nearly 27-year-long legal career behind, he entered politics and joined the People Power Party (PPP). He won the 2022 presidential election by less than a 1 per cent point margin against the Democratic party’s Lee Jae-myung. His victory marked the return of the Conservative party to power. 

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Yeol’s Political Brawl with Opposition 

Yeol’s presidency is laced with political turmoil due to its clashes with the Democratic Party-led opposition. In fact, the move to invoke emergency martial law followed from an intense and heated discussion between President Yeol’s PPP and the opposition Democratic party over 2025’s budget. 

Reportedly, he was accused of forcing the defence ministry to whitewash a probe regarding the death of a South Korean marine in 2023. Additionally, a bill was introduced by the opposition in the parliament to investigate the allegations by a special prosecutor. However, the President later used the veto power to sideline the bill. The allegations against his wife, Kim Keon Hee, have also come to light, including stock price manipulation. The opposition moved a bill to launch an investigation against her. But this bill too met the same fate and was vetoed by Yeol. 

He is also accused of using the law as a tool to suppress opposition and curb press freedom. According to a New York Times report, the President has been using lawsuits, government regulators and criminal investigation agencies to call out media organisations that have been critical of him. 

His plan to abolish the ministry of gender equality and family has also invited criticism, particularly from the Korean women workers’ association. Time and again he has mentioned that Koreans shouldn’t be divided on gender lines and people should be looked at as individuals. He has promised to establish a population ministry instead. The Democratic party has opposed his proposed move.