March 27 (UPI) -- South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law in December was a wake-up call for Korean citizens, especially the younger generation, to the dire and dangerous state of the country's politics.
Koreans are realizing that the Democratic Party of Korea, which holds a controlling majority in the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, is exercising a form of legislative dictatorship that is eroding freedom and the rule of law.
This has triggered mass rallies across the country in support of a freedom-based Korea with a strong alliance with the United States, as reflected by people waving both ROK and U.S. flags.
More specifically, the demonstrators want the return of the president, investigation of alleged election fraud, restoration of the rule of law, the institution of checks and balances, and elimination of the Chinese Communist Party's extensive influence in the ROK.
In his public speech, Yoon stated that he declared martial law "to defend a free Republic of Korea from the threat of communist forces" while highlighting that "[t]he National Assembly ... has become a monster that will destroy the free democratic system."
Weaponizing legislative authority
With its dominant majority, the DPK has weaponized the legislative authority of the National Assembly and repeatedly impeached executive branch officials. Even before the martial law declaration, the DPK introduced impeachment charges 22 times against Yoon administration officials.
After Yoon's impeachment, the National Assembly quickly impeached Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, then serving as the acting president. DPK followed with the 30th impeachment proceeding, this time against the next acting president, Choi Sang-mok.
Since then, the Constitutional Court has overturned the impeachment against Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, reinstating him as the acting leader of the country on March 24.
The impeachment charges against the acting presidents includes their refusal to appoint Ma Eun-hyeok as chief justice of the Constitutional Court, which will rule on Yoon's impeachment.
Ma was the founder of Inmin Noryeon -- the Worker's League of the Inmin, meaning the proletariat, tenant farmers and the propertyless -- in 1987, along with Song Young-gil --the former leader of the DPK -- and others.
This organization blamed the United States for starting the Korean War, contrary to the well-established fact, confirmed from communist bloc diplomatic sources, that North Korea started the Korean War by invading South Korea.
Firmly anti-ROK and anti-United States, the organization advocated socialist revolution, and organized massive labor unrest. It also created a political party with Marxist-Leninist leanings, the Minjung Party (Party of the Masses), which became the Justice Party.
The Justice Party, which still exists today, voted with the DPK to impeach Yoon. The DPK has pressured both acting presidents as well as the Constitutional Court to appoint Ma, who has not renounced the Marxist ideology that opposes the very constitution that the court is supposed to uphold.
Selective slashing of the budget
The DPK also has unilaterally and drastically cut the budget for the executive branch, especially the Special Activity Fund, which is distributed to various government entities, including the National Assembly.
The DPK cut the Special Activity Fund for the president's office, the prosecutors, inspectors and the police to zero. Additionally, the DPK cut the budget in other areas, including countering drugs, such as fentanyl from China.
However, the DPK gave themselves and the other lawmakers a raise and increased the budget for pet projects, such as the promotion of solar panels from China.
DPK's Pro-CCP stance
Another reason for the impeachment of Acting President Han was his refusal to sign the DPK's bill that would have effectively given South Korean companies' technology and trade secrets to the CCP. Yoon already highlighted the DPK's pro-CCP stance, when he exposed its adamant opposition to an amendment that would allow South Korea to prosecute Chinese spies.
Currently, there is no such law. As such, the Chinese who were conducting intelligence activities by flying drones around a U.S. Navy carrier at Busan, military bases and the National Intelligence Service could not be prosecuted and had to be released from custody.
The DPK openly demands the abolition of the National Security Act, the only law that allows investigation and prosecution of spies, even though only North Korean spies.
The DPK's pursuit of abolishing the National Security Act and weakening the Naval Intelligence Service matches North Korea's stance, which demands the dismantlement of both. North Korea's "trash balloons" sent into the South also include leaflets, one of which stated, "The Only Way for the Masses to Survive Is to Impeach Yoon Suk-yeol."
As if on cue, the DPK quickly moved to impeach Yoon in the wake of his martial law declaration, accusing him of a "coup d'etat" and naeran (rebellion, insurrection, civil war). Its first attempt to impeach Yoon, on Dec. 7, included the charge that he pursued a "foreign policy hostile to North Korea, China and Russia and bizarre diplomacy centered on Japan." It did not pass and was heavily criticized, both domestically and internationally.
On the DPK's second attempt at impeaching Yoon, it dropped the controversial clause about his foreign policy toward China, Russia and North Korea and passed the impeachment resolution.
Impeachment chief with a terrorist background
Assemblyman Jung Chung-rae, of the DPK is in charge of the impeachment committee at the National Assembly. Concerning, however, is his history.
Jung Chung-rae committed terrorist attacks on the U.S. ambassador's residence on Oct. 9, 1989, by scaling the perimeter wall, throwing explosives at the residence and setting it on fire.
He was a then-member of a radical and violent anti-U.S. student group at Konkuk University and received a two-year prison sentence for his actions. In 2013, when he tried to enter the United States with other lawmakers, Jung was denied an entry visa due to his anti-U.S. terrorism.
This background apparently was not a barrier to entry into the South Korean National Assembly, where he serves as a lawmaker. Today, he leads the impeachment committee and has zealously pursued the impeachment of Yoon, even making a comment about executing the president. Jung also heads the Legislative and Judiciary Committee, although he has no legal background and is neither a lawyer nor a prosecutor.
Constitutional Court to tule on impeachment
Increasing public awareness of serious problems with the majority in the legislature has now extended to the Constitutional Court, which will rule on Yoon's impeachment. A growing number of voices say that several of the constitutional court judges should recuse themselves due to conflicts of interest.
Moon Hyung-bae, the acting chief justice, is close to Lee Jae-myung, the DPK leader who faces a number of criminal charges, including allegations that he persuaded a witness to lie in court to understate Lee's past criminal conviction.
Though this election law conviction was overturned in the appeals court, he still faces several trials over alleged corruption, bribery and illegally sending money to North Korea. Moon was the president of the far-left Woori Beob Yeongu-hoe (Our Law Society).
Constitutional Court Judge Lee Mi-son was a member of the International Society of Human Rights Law, the successor to the "Our Law Society." Her younger sister, Lee Sang-hee, is a lawyer and the deputy chair of the "Special Committee to Topple Yoon Suk-yeol" under the far-left lawyer's group, Min Byun. This, at the very least, creates an appearance of partiality.
Also hailing from the Society of Human Rights Law is another Constitutional Court judge, Chung Kye-seon. Chung's husband works at the same law firm as lawyer Kim I-su, a former judge who is representing the National Assembly in the impeachment process. Thus, Kim is Chung's husband's senior.
Furthermore, Kim was Chung's professor/mentor when she was a student at the Judicial Research & Training Institute. In other words, if Chung does not rule in a way that Kim wants, Chung's husband could face consequences in his law practice. Kim has the appearance of holding undue influence over both Chung and her husband.
Public expectation
Koreans are increasingly aware of these problems. A growing number see them as a threat to Korean democracy and are vocal about their fears. This is reflected in the massive nationwide rallies taking place across Korea and also in the unprecedented swing in Yoon's approval rating, from around 10% right after his martial law declaration to more than 40%. They expect the Constitutional Court to uphold the constitution and prove that the rule of law is not dead in South Korea.
Tara O is the author of The Collapse of North Korea: Challenges, Planning and Geopolitics of Unification. Her research areas include South Korea's politics and history, the Korean contingency and unification, U.S. alliances in Asia, human rights in North Korea and the social integration of North Korean defectors.
As a career U.S. Air Force officer, Tara O worked on national security, intelligence, alliance and political-military issues at the Pentagon and the United Nations Command/Combined Forces Command/U.S. Forces Korea. She holds a doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin.