[Inside Chodong] The Unbearable Lightness of Judgment

Yoon's 'Political Self-Harm' and Extreme Gamble
Economic and Diplomatic Emergency if Duties Are Suspended
Summit Plans with Trump Also in Jeopardy

Reform New Party lawmaker Lee Ju-young, Cheon Ha-ram floor leader, Innovation Party lawmaker Shin Jang-sik, Progressive Party floor leader Yoon Jong-oh, Basic Income Party representative Yong Hye-in, Social Democratic Party representative Han Chang-min, and Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Yong-min submitted the impeachment motion against President Yoon Seok-yeol jointly proposed by six opposition parties to the National Assembly's Legislative Affairs Office on the 4th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

A reporter who accompanied President Yoon Suk-yeol on his overseas trip to Peru last month to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit had an unexpected experience on site. The atmosphere in Lima, the capital where the APEC summit was held, was quite different from expectations. Peru, the host country of the APEC summit attended by major leaders from the U.S., China, and other key nations, was making every effort to successfully carry out the event. However, outside the venue, protests demanding the resignation of Peruvian President Dina Boluarte were intensifying. The Peruvian government raised the security alert level to the highest in Lima and other major areas, controlling key roads under a strict atmosphere, while anti-government protesters held street marches strongly calling for the current president’s resignation. The contrasting scenes inside and outside the APEC venue starkly revealed Peru’s internal turmoil to the visiting world leaders.

President Yoon’s declaration and subsequent lifting of martial law have thrown the political landscape into turmoil. The opposition party has filed an impeachment motion against President Yoon, while the ruling party is focusing all efforts on preventing defections to ensure the motion’s rejection. The unexpected midnight martial law incident has become the 'trigger' that sparked the impeachment of a sitting president.

Although the martial law declaration and its lifting were resolved within just six hours, the incident left a deep impression on the public. Amid unresolved doubts about such an extreme choice, President Yoon’s explanation that it was "a warning to the opposition" has failed to gain public sympathy. There is full understanding that the frustration over administrative paralysis, caused by the opposition-led National Assembly and successive impeachment attempts including that of the Board of Audit and Inspection chairman, has erupted into anger. However, the 'intolerable lightness of judgment' in risking the presidency on such an extreme political gamble, tantamount to 'political self-harm,' evokes not just shock but even fear.

With all attention focused on the impeachment vote against President Yoon, the economy and people’s livelihoods, which the president had persistently emphasized, have been neglected. The ‘2025 Economic Policy Direction,’ which contains the government’s economic management strategy and policies for next year, was scheduled to be announced this month but has become uncertain. The president’s plan to make reducing polarization a major national agenda in the second half of his term and to devote great effort to related policy preparation has also become a broken promise. The momentum for these initiatives was lost as senior presidential secretaries and high-ranking aides collectively tendered their resignations following the martial law declaration and lifting the day before.

In particular, the diplomatic front is in crisis. Plans to hold a South Korea-U.S. summit after Donald Trump’s inauguration as U.S. president on January 20 next year may be disrupted. If the president’s duties are suspended during the critical period when focus should be on responding to a potential second Trump administration, South Korea risks missing the opportunity to effectively counter U.S. trade pressures as well as safeguarding its economy. Next year’s APEC summit will be held in Gyeongju, South Korea. With Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit scheduled, a situation like Peru’s may not be a distant concern.

The International Finance Center has identified the keyword for the global economy next year as the ‘Trump Pivot’ (policy shift). If this year was the year of global monetary policy pivots, next year is expected to see policy shifts across all sectors?tax, trade, and industry?under a second Trump administration. At a critical time when risks loom over the Korean economy and thorough preparation is more necessary than ever, South Korea has been struck by an anachronistic martial law shock. The president must bear full responsibility for that reckless choice and resolve the situation.