SEOUL — To the chagrin of leftists who want to see South Korea’s impeached president, Yoon Suk-yeol, go down in disgrace and be imprisoned for life, he has at last won a critical court victory.
The conservatives who have rallied to Mr. Yoon in his battle against impeachment by the national assembly were overjoyed when a district court ordered his release while on trial for “insurrection” for his short-lived attempt at imposing martial law in December.
Several hundred people greeted him on the street as he was released 27 hours later after 52 days in the Seoul Detention Center south of the heart of the capital. where several hundred thousand demonstrators had been chanting, “Free Yoon Suk-yeol” and listening to firebrand speakers denouncing the leftist opposition.
By the time Mr. Yoon arrived at his official residence in a cavalcade of black vehicles, several thousand more were waiting near the zealously guarded gates.
Shouts of “Welcome President Yoon Suk-yeol” reverberated up and down the avenue along with demands for the constitutional court to reject his impeachment by the National Assembly, dominated by the opposition Minju or Democratic Party.
At the mass rally in the heart of the capital, the organizer of the pro-Yoon movement, an elderly pastor on a platform high above the crowd, the Reverend Jeon Kwan-hoon, declared, “Now is the time to pressure the constitutional court.”
The reverend predicted the result, expected in a week or two, will be a four-to-four split among its eight sitting members. The impeachment motion stripped Mr. Yoon of the power but not the title of president. He will be formally ousted if six members of the nine-seat panel approve the motion.
With one seat vacant, the panel is reportedly so divided that the justices refuse to have lunch in the same room and have shouted at one another while arguing over testimony at hearings.
South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party leader, Lee Jae-myung, bottom center, at Seoul on December 7, 2024. The signs read ‘Punish the rebellion leader.’ AP/Ahn Young-joon
Mr. Yoon still faces trial in the district court for “insurrection” — his abortive attempt at imposing martial law on December 3. The assembly promptly voted down his martial law decree, which he then formally rescinded. Ten days later 204 of the assembly’s 300 members voted to impeach him — four more than the 200 minimum required.
The decision of the District Court to free Mr. Yoon from pre-trial detention at once raised chances for his acquittal of insurrection, which carries a sentence of life imprisonment or even death.
“Declaring martial law is a president’s right,” an elderly member of Special Forces for a Free Democracy, Lee Gi-won, said as Mr. Yoon’s supporters chanted slogans and songs from a platform set up a few feet from the drive to Mr. Yoon’s residence. “This whole trial and impeachment is a mistake.”
Some in the crowd predicted violence — if not right away, then if the constitutional court approves his impeachment. Minju adherents accused him of staging a “coup” against his own government. Still facing trial for “insurrection,” they say, he might destroy evidence.
South Korea’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, celebrates the 78th anniversary of Korean Liberation Day from Japanese colonial rule in 1945, at Seoul, August 15, 2023. AP/Lee Jin-man, pool
The response to the court’s order to free Mr. Yoon exposed, yet again, deep fissures in South Korean society while North Korea’s dictator, Kim Jong-un, threatens nuclear war and provides Russia with arms and troops for the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine.
The Minju leader, Lee Jae-myung, denounced the district court decision, saying it “does not erase the fact that an unconstitutional military coup disrupted constitutional order.” Pro-Yoon demonstrators shouted that Mr. Lee, charged in bribery scandals during his years as mayor of a city near Seoul and a provincial governor, is the one who should be arrested.
Many in the crowd, waving American flags, placed their faith in President Trump to side with them even though he has said he hopes for another summit with the North Korean dictator, whom he saw three times during his first term.
“The reason President Trump wants to see Kim is to eliminate the nuclear threat and keep peace on the Korean peninsula,” a lawyer on Mr. Yoon’s legal team, Seok Dong-yeon, on the fringe of the crowd near the president’s residence, told the Sun. “I hope President Trump loves Korea. I don’t believe he will betray Korea.”
At night, after the crowd in central Seoul had largely dispersed, thousands of anti-Yoon demonstrators marched down broad avenues carrying red flashlights and holding banners criticizing the president. “Jail Yoon Suk-yeol,” they shouted, the opposite of the “Free Yoon” shouts that I had been hearing before he finally was able to go home from prison.