After a South Korea court ruled unanimously to oust President Yoon Suk Yeol from office, some protesters that had been gathered in central Seoul jumped for joy, while others wept and rued the end of democracy.
“I’m very happy about the court’s decision today,” said singer Kim Myung-Jun, 24, who had been camped outside the court all week. He said Yoon needed to be removed as reinstating him could spark more protests and put the public at risk.
On the polar opposite are those like Shin Hyeyeon, a 36-year-old finance professional who believes martial law was a “necessary step.”
“I no longer see a future for myself in this country,” she said with tears in her eyes. “I’m seriously considering immigrating because I feel like our democracy has been destroyed.”
The Constitutional Court’s decision on Friday sealed Yoon’s removal from office four months after he declared martial law, prompting parliament to impeach him. Intense street protests have taken place every weekend since the declaration. An election must take place within 60 days.
The stark difference in public reaction after the court ruling highlights the deep polarization in South Korea, setting the stage for a heated election campaign in the months ahead. Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, is currently the front-runner to succeed Yoon. Both of their parties have increasingly relied on stoking hostility against each other to rally public support.
See also: Indian pharma, Korea defence stocks shine as tariffs hit markets
“Korean government institutions have withstood a volatile mix of legislative obstruction and executive overreach that posed the greatest challenge to democracy in a generation,” said Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. “Now begins a compressed presidential election campaign that will stretch, if not tear, the social fabric of the country.”
Though the protests on Friday were largely peaceful and thinned out soon after the court’s announcement, results from a Gallup survey released Friday before the decision, which put support for Yoon’s ouster at 57% and opposition at 37%, suggests more unrest could lie ahead.
The poll numbers indicate “a substantial minority that shows potential for protests,” wrote Bloomberg’s Korea Economist Hyosung Kwon. “At a minimum, polarization ahead of the election looks likely.”
See also: Marine Le Pen barred from 2027 French presidency run
Those who are opposed to Yoon are generally younger and left-leaning, often expressing frustration over his policies on issues like gender equality. Yoon supporters are mainly older and conservative, and some have even embraced his unsubstantiated claims of election fraud. Many at the protests have been waving the US flag as well as “Stop the Steal” signs, drawing parallels to US President Donald Trump’s unfounded claims that he was the rightful winner of the 2020 election.
“The rule of law has completely collapsed, and today will be remembered as the day communism took over South Korea,” Stella Jung, 36, a homemaker and mother of one.
The division has left government in near paralysis. Lee’s party controls parliament, and the two parties have been unable to cooperate even on simple issues while political debates often turn into bitter arguments. That has made it harder for South Korea’s democracy to function, especially when it comes to tackling complex challenges like Trump’s trade war and security threats from North Korea.
But Lee himself is also a polarizing figure who may lack broad appeal. In the same Gallup poll, 46% of respondents said an appeals court’s recent decision to acquit Lee in an election law violation case was wrong, compared to 40% who backed it.
If Lee wins the election, he would be able to break the legislative deadlock to push through his policy agenda, said Bloomberg’s Kwon.
“This political alignment significantly lowers the barriers to enacting progressive reforms,” he wrote.
Still, even with a win, Lee would take power in a country where the political divide is “more sharp than ever,” according to Eom Kyeong-young, a former government official who is now the director of the Zeitgeist Institute, a research group in Seoul.
“This impeachment trial was not a question of whether they support Yoon or not,” said Eom. “It has turned into a battle between the conservatives and the progressives.”
