‘Stop the Steal’ in South Korea? Why MAGA-like hats and slogans are part of President Yoon’s impeachment drama

Seoul, South Korea CNN —

Crowds of people wrapped up against the bitter January cold clutch signs emblazoned with the slogan “Stop the Steal,” wave US flags, and don red MAGA-like hats.

But this scene is 11,000 kilometers (7,000 miles) away from Washington, DC, in the South Korean capital Seoul, where throngs of die-hard conservative supporters of the suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol have gathered outside his home to protect the embattled leader from arrest.

Yoon successfully resisted an attempt to detain him on Friday after an hours-long standoff with authorities over his dramatic but short-lived declaration of martial law in December that plunged the country into political chaos.

South Korean lawmakers voted to impeach Yoon last month, including some from within his own party. The conservative president remains in office, but with little to no real power. His political fate will be decided by the country’s constitutional court, likely in the spring, which will determine if he will be formally removed from the presidency or reinstated in office.

In the meantime, corruption investigators are determined to execute the arrest warrant on charges of insurrection and abuse of power. A sitting South Korean president has never faced criminal charges before, but the man at the center of the martial law maelstrom — who is himself a former prosecutor — says he will “fight until the end.”

Yoon, widely seen as a conservative firebrand and staunch US ally tough on China and North Korea, has urged his supporters to do the same.

As they hold vigil, Yoon’s supporters wave American flags alongside the South Korean Taegeukgi, its national flag. Red “Make America Great Again”-inspired hats are selling for about $5.50 at pro-Yoon