Author: FOSTER KLUG Associated Press, KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press, ABC News
Published on: 04/04/2025 | 11:33:32
AI Summary:
Tens of thousands of Yoon opponents and supporters aired their feelings in downtown Seoul. As South Korea turns to elect a new president, that divide is only likely to harden. Yoon was confronting North Korea-sympathizing politicians intent on destroying South Korea’s democracy, his supporters say. The fractures will likely get worse as presidential election campaigning gains force. Yoon supporters tend to frame the martial law decree as crucial tool for a president stymied at every turn by the liberal opposition Democratic Party. Kim Min-seon, a Yoon supporter, said it was the only way to deal with liberals blocking Yoon’s efforts to fight Pyongyang’s and Beijing’s alleged campaigns to threaten South Korea’s democracy through cyberattacks, disinformation and technology theft Yoon sent troops to National Election Commission offices to investigate alleged vulnerabilities to its computer systems. Such claims are unsubstantiated and there is no evidence of electoral fraud, but there’s a worry that the specter could undermine confidence in future elections. Many Yoon critics see something strikingly different: a leader increasingly in the sway of conspiracy theories that portray him as a victim of a North Korea-sympathizing opposition. Prosecutors indicted Myung Tae-kyun a day later, and Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on the same day. It’s not immediately clear how much of a role the Myung scandal played in influencing Yoon’s decree, which investigators say had been brewing for months. Indictments say Yoon was driven to martial law by disputes with the opposition over budget cuts, impeachment attempts against his allies.
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