Putin's Closest Ally on Korea's Consecutive Impeachments: "Government's Version of Squid Game... Popcorn Ready"

Medvedev "Same Situation Again with Consecutive Impeachments"

A close aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin mocked the situation in South Korea, where the impeachment motion against Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who is also acting president, was passed, calling it a "government version of Squid Game."

Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council.

Dmitry Medvedev, Vice Chairman of the Russian Security Council, wrote on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on the 27th (local time), "South Korea has impeached again. It would be better to start a Squid Game for the government," adding, "I have prepared popcorn." This was a mockery comparing the South Korean National Assembly's passing of the impeachment motion against Prime Minister Han, who had postponed the appointment of constitutional court judges following the impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol over responsibility for the emergency martial law situation, to the Korean drama "Squid Game 2," which was simultaneously released worldwide on Netflix the previous day.

Vice Chairman Medvedev is a close aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin and served as Russia's president from 2008 to 2012. He was known as a so-called "puppet president" to extend Putin's term. He is currently considered Russia's second-in-command.

The interpretation likening the domestic situation to "Squid Game" is not limited to outside the country. Professor Kim Sang-wook, a physicist from KAIST, stated on Facebook on the 26th, "Squid Game Season 2 has started on Netflix. But it does not generate much interest." He explained the reason as, "Because the entire nation of South Korea is already playing a more horrific Squid Game, risking the fate of the country."

Na Kyung-won, a member of the People Power Party, also brought up this drama to criticize the Democratic Party's push for the impeachment of Prime Minister Han. She said, "They threatened to appoint constitutional court judges with the acting president's authority, and now they are impeaching with the quorum of 151 for the prime minister, not the 200 required for the president," calling it "a self-serving, manipulative interpretation and a contradictory, elastic standard. The content is also a very dangerous attempt that distorts legal principles for political purposes and could cause a government vacuum." She criticized further, "Are they trying to create an unprecedented situation where even the acting president's acting president appears? Is the Democratic Party planning to play a ruinous Squid Game with the people as hostages until only one cabinet member remains?" She added, "If even the acting prime minister is impeached, the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Choi Sang-mok, will become the acting prime minister. It will be even more difficult for the deputy prime minister to appoint constitutional court judges, which the prime minister could not do. If impeachments continue like this, the country will become an anarchic state."