‘Kisses democracy’ will prevail

January 9, 2025

SEOUL – The “Kisses Squad” has come to South Korea. The term refers to young people who have joined rallies in the street to demand the carrying out of the warrant to arrest suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol. Draped in emergency silver foil blankets and resembling a bunch of Hershey’s Kisses chocolates, they huddled together in the street in front of the presidential residence for several subzero, snowy nights at the beginning of the new year. They are the protagonists of what are being called the “light stick protests,” demanding the full impeachment of President Yoon after he led a self-coup or insurrection under the guise of declaring martial law a month ago. Their image on that snowy night was so powerful that the Korean democracy movement in 2024 and 2025, which was sparked by Yoon Suk Yeol’s insurrection, could be called “Kisses democracy.”

Although Kisses democracy has strongly demonstrated its resilience to normal democracy in Korea for about a month, this does not necessarily mean that the prospects of Korea are purely bright. Rather, there are some reactionary movements to Yoon’s impeachment. Near the scene where the Kisses Squad has called for the enforcement of Yoon’s arrest, there are counterdemonstrations by so-called “Asphalt Elders” who sit up all night to block the arrest. At the front door of the presidential residence, some 40 lawmakers from the ruling party showed up and formed a human barricade to block the execution of Yoon’s arrest warrant. Above all, Yoon is protesting against legitimate law enforcement by resisting arrest in the presidential residence. He uses a strategy to order the presidential office’s bodyguards to block investigators and plead with his supporters to protect