[Kim Seong-kon] The yo-yo phenomenon in Korea's political climate

On Saturday, the National Assembly of South Korea passed a motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his Dec. 3 martial law declaration. Supporters of his impeachment cheered in front of the National Assembly, while those who opposed it were despondent at Gwanghwamun Square.

The world is now anxiously watching for signs of South Korea’s future, wondering, “What’s next?” According to foreign press, Korea will have to face “uncertainty” for a while. The problem is that “uncertainty” means “instability and insecurity.” Both domestic and foreign affairs will have to be pending for the time being.

Watching the current attempt to impeach Yoon and the ongoing investigations of government officials under the alleged charge of “insurrection,” foreign observers have a feeling of deja vu. Indeed, it strikingly resembles the impeachment of ex-President Park Geun-hye and the blacklist investigations in 2016.

Repetition of such political turmoil is not something we should be proud of. Rather, it embarrasses us because it does not suit the image of an advanced country known for Hallyu, cutting-edge technology and economic success. Moreover, recurrent political chaos and turbulence may severely damage South Korea’s economy, as foreign investors may withdraw their investments due to the “uncertainty” of Korea’s future prospects and unstable currency exchange rates.

The reality, however, is that the current chaos in the South Korean political arena is less a matter of random chance than of being trapped in a vicious cycle of “repetition.”

It behooves Korean politicians to bear in mind the famous words of George Santayana: “Those who ignore the past will be doomed to repeat it.” We should learn from our past mistakes, instead of mining them for revenge. Korean politicians should be aware that ordinary people are wondering, “Why is our political climate still staggering in the 19th century, while South Korea is foremost in so many other areas?”

When the previous Moon Jae-in administration was launched in 2017, for example, some people predicted that South Korea would retreat to the 1980s, when socialism-oriented student activists led the “anti-war, anti-nuke and anti-America” campaign. The Moon administration, which was filled with those former student activists, called for peace with North Korea, shutting down nuclear plants and a more aggressive stance in the Korea-US alliance.

Since the Yoon Suk Yeol administration set sail in 2022, it has tried to bring South Korea back to the present under the name of “normalization.” As a result, it has focused on standing up to North Korea, continuing the operation of nuclear plants and restoring the weakened Korea-US relationship.

Suppose the Democratic Party of Korea wins the next election and pursues basically the same policies of the Moon administration. If so, South Korea will once again retreat ineluctably into the past. And if the People Power Party wins five years after that? Then, South Korea will return to the present at best.

Due to this monotonous tendency, the South Korean political scene has gone back and forth like a yo-yo between the present and the past incessantly for the past few decades, instead of moving forward into the future. If such repetition continues, it will be disastrous for South Korea because she will be far behind other countries that are constantly moving on to the future.

In order to make South Korea a prosperous, highly esteemed country, Korean politicians must take care not to completely denounce the previous government’s policies. The previous government is not a mortal enemy to be eliminated. It is imperative that a country’s foreign policies have “consistency.”

Ironically, one of the mottoes of the Park Geun-hye administration was “normalization of the abnormal.” If anything, however, her administration turned out to be abnormal. In fact, “normalization of the abnormal” has always been a motto of the Korean government since liberation, because each government has vehemently denounced the previous government.

If South Korea remains caught in such a regrettable loop, she may look like a country not even capable of autonomy. If so, foreign experts worry about the possibility that totalitarian countries might misjudge the situation and see South Korea as an object for their territorial expansion.

Korean politicians should stop hating and antagonizing each other and learn to coexist for the sake of survival. They must reset their minds and start all over again. Then, a new South Korea will be born, which Koreans can proudly bequeath to their descendants.

Otherwise, we can expect that social and political chaos will continue to disrupt the country and Korea’s future will remain uncertain and nebulous. Ordinary people crave stability because many domestic or foreign affairs will have to stop until the final decision of the Constitutional Court, which will likely take two to three months at least.

We hope that Korean politicians consider the future of their country first, instead of the usual monotonous power politics. We hope that they can stop yo-yoing, sort out the disorder and restore decency and stability as soon as possible.

By Kim Seong-kon

Kim Seong-kon is a professor emeritus of English at Seoul National University and a visiting scholar at Dartmouth College. The views expressed here are the writer’s own. -- Ed.