“You will defend the president to the death!” Let’s not let ourselves be fooled by these communist traitors! »shouts a young thirty-year-old on the stage to the crowd. Despite temperatures of around -10°C on January 9, supporters of deposed South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol gathered in front of his residence transformed into a fortress. South Korean and American flags in hands, a rallying sign for the South Korean far right, a crowd of around 200 determined and radicalized people gather there every day.
After his dismissal voted by deputies on December 14, President Yoon Suk-yeol refuses to surrender to the authorities. His home in Seoul has transformed in recent days into a veritable bunker in which he takes refuge, protected by the special forces of his presidential guard.
In the speeches and discussions of the demonstrators emerge the conspiracy theories that fuel their anger. According to them, the opposition to President Yoon is in fact just a bunch of spies sent by China and North Korea to destroy the country from within. A thesis that President Yoon Suk-yeol himself had defended to justify his decision to establish martial law on December 3.
Conservative minority supports Yoon
If the vast majority of South Korean public opinion is opposed to the president, a small segment of the population, the oldest and most conservative, remains loyal to him. Kim In-won, 84, believes in it wholeheartedly. “Everything that is happening is a scheme by the opposition, in the hands of the North Korean communists to destroy our country,” she insists. A devotion that the Head of State reciprocates. In a letter addressed to them, he thanks his supporters and promises to continue fighting.
This electoral base, increasingly violent in its speeches, rejects the traditional media. Like Kim Jae-hee, 77: “When I watch television, it annoys me. So, I watch politics videos on YouTube. They seem more honest to me, they are true patriotic citizens who defend the president. »
Rampant misinformation
In South Korea, 97% of residents say they get information from the American video platform. “Political podcasts accumulate millions of views every day and are one of the main channels of disinformation,” explains Jun Minjung, researcher specializing in fake news. A phenomenon that affects all age groups.
Park Cheong-yeon is 20 years old and he too no longer trusts the media. “They are all leftists, I don’t believe them. I prefer to do my own research and that’s what I advise everyone. » On the platform in front of the presidential residence, a speaker even invites journalists to be pushed back from Chosun Ilboyet the most conservative daily in the country.
Influence of “Trumpism”
Beyond the media, it’s all ” system “ which is singled out by the supporters of the head of state. The crowd in front of the stand holds signs « stop the steal » (“stop the steal”), a slogan borrowed from Donald Trump when he accused the Democrats of having rigged the 2020 American presidential election. Here, the South Koreans reject both the impeachment vote and the results of the 2024 legislative elections, won by the opposition. The influence of “Trumpism” is felt in the Korean far right.
“Yes, Trump is a model, he never stopped fighting, he defends the values of America, Yoon Suk-yeol is a bit like our own Trump,” comments Kim In-won. If President Yoon is targeted today by a second arrest warrant, his supporters are not demoralized. “We have hope, smiles Han Yeon-chang, 78. Look at the United States, they tried to eliminate Trump but he came back, we too will come back. »
