In defense of Yoon in South Korea

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is at a pivotal crossroads. Impeached by parliament on December 14, his fate now lies in the hands of the Constitutional Court. Should six of the current eight-member panel vote to uphold the motion, Yoon will be removed from office.

Yoon also faces growing investigations into insurrection charges — a crime punishable by life imprisonment or death under local law. In a dramatic turn of events on New Year’s Eve, a court issued an arrest warrant for a sitting president for the first time in the nation’s history.

Amid looming uncertainties, however, pro-Yoon conservatives in South Korea stand firm. They contend that the president’s martial law declaration was both justified and within presidential purview. For weeks, hundreds of thousands of Yoon’s supporters have gathered in Seoul, denouncing the impeachment as illegitimate.

In an interview with Asia Times, Kang Yong-seok, an attorney and prominent right-wing commentator, offered his perspective on the latest developments. A former parliamentarian, Kang has been instrumental in shaping and solidifying the pro-Yoon camp from the sidelines. His two YouTube channels boast over 900,000 subscribers.

A court approved an arrest warrant against Yoon on December 31. What are your thoughts?

The warrant is clearly unlawful. Under the South Korean constitution, sitting presidents are immune from criminal investigation except in cases of insurrection or inciting foreign aggression. The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), the investigative agency that sought the warrant, doesn’t hold jurisdiction over this case.

What the CIO did, therefore, was extend its investigation into Yoon’s abuse of power charge by framing the