【Epoch Times News on January 17, 2025】Yoon Suk-yeol was suspended from office due to imposing martial law and faced impeachment by the parliament. Recently, he was also arrested by authorities investigating alleged illegal activities. Despite this, Yoon Suk-yeol’s approval rating has significantly increased in recent times.
After the first failed attempt to execute the arrest warrant, the South Korean Public Opinion Bureau, in conjunction with the police, entered the presidential residence for the second time on January 15th and arrested Yoon Suk-yeol.
On the 16th, the Seoul Central District Court rejected Yoon Suk-yeol’s claims regarding the alleged illegal arrest warrant executed by the Public Opinion Bureau.
In response, Yoon Suk-yeol’s side stated, “We must correct this illegal behavior and resist to the end.”
Yoon Suk-yeol’s camp also stated that they will not cooperate with further investigations by the authorities. Since his arrest, Yoon Suk-yeol has maintained silence or refused to appear for questioning by the Public Opinion Bureau.
On that day, Yoon Suk-yeol’s legal team accused the head of the Public Opinion Bureau and the head of the National Police Agency’s Investigation Department of inciting rebellion.
According to South Korean law, the validity of an arrest warrant is 48 hours, after which an application for further detention must be made if the suspect is to be held. The Public Opinion Bureau plans to apply for Yoon Suk-yeol’s detention order in court on the 17th.
Meanwhile, on the 16th, the South Korean Constitutional Court conducted the second round of debates on the impeachment case against Yoon Suk-yeol. Yoon Suk-yeol’s side argued in court that the main reason for declaring martial law last month was “election fraud by members of the parliament.” Additionally, opposition parties have been damaging national interests by continually impeaching senior public officials, hindering the amendment process of the spy-related content in the Criminal Law, which is also one of the reasons for martial law.
On the day of his arrest, Yoon Suk-yeol released a pre-recorded video, explaining, “Despite it being an illegal investigation, in order to prevent any unfortunate bloodshed,” he decided to participate in the investigation by the Public Opinion Bureau. He expressed hope that in the future, Koreans would not “suffer such harm” like he did when facing criminal cases.
He also stated that although he feels South Korea is currently in a period of “legal collapse and darkness,” witnessing the people, especially the youth, “rediscovering the value of liberal democracy,” fills him with hope for the country’s future.
He also publicly shared a long handwritten letter on Facebook. In the letter, he emphasized that martial law was only the president’s use of the power to save the country from a national crisis, not inciting internal strife.
Yoon Suk-yeol announced martial law on December 3, 2024, and was impeached in the second parliamentary vote by the opposition on the 14th. Subsequently, his presidential powers were terminated, and the case was handed over to the Constitutional Court for a trial process of up to 180 days. If the Constitutional Court approves the impeachment, Yoon Suk-yeol will be removed from office, leading South Korea to hold elections between April and August next year; failure of approval would result in Yoon Suk-yeol immediately resuming his presidential duties.
Contrary to the series of events Yoon Suk-yeol faced after declaring martial law, his approval ratings have significantly risen recently.
From the start of 2025 until January 14th, the survey results from seven South Korean polling agencies have all shown Yoon Suk-yeol’s approval rating exceeding 40%, far higher than the lowest 11% following the imposition of martial law.
Among them, the Public Opinion Research Project announced survey results conducted on January 12th to 13th, showing Yoon Suk-yeol’s approval rating at 46.6%, a 15.1% increase compared to the previous survey results released on December 24th last year. The disapproval rate was 52.2%.
In the survey, individuals aged 30 and above 60 showed higher support rates. Specifically, age groups of 18-29 and 30-39 had support rates of 44.8% and 49.1%, respectively, while the 60-69 and 70-99 age groups had support rates of 50.0% and 63.7%, respectively.
Prior to this, a Gallup survey conducted from the 7th to the 9th showed that the opposition to impeachment accounted for 32%, while the support for impeachment was 64%. This indicates a decrease of 11% in support compared to the survey results before the parliamentary vote on Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachment over a month ago.
The latest survey results from the Public Opinion Research Project show further increase in public opposition to impeaching President Yoon Suk-yeol.
After being arrested, Yoon Suk-yeol was detained at the Seoul detention center and underwent interrogation at the Public Opinion Bureau during the day. Over the past three days, many of his supporters have held vigils in both areas.
They held banners that read “We want to fight with the president,” “Stop The Steal,” and “Investigate Unfair Elections,” while chanting slogans like “Impeachment is invalid.”
Some of Yoon Suk-yeol’s supporters were interviewed by Epoch Times on the evening of the 15th.
South Korean actor Ansero (21 years old) expressed that the illegal arrest of the president had made many citizens angry as the bad actors were trying to impeach the president to cover up their own misdeeds, causing the collapse of South Korea’s legal system.
He stated that with the opposition parties arbitrarily amending laws, budget cuts affecting the people’s interests, and the constant targeting of high-level officials through impeachment, hindered amendments to the content on espionage offenses in the Criminal Law, adding to the reasons for martial law.
He highlighted that the president’s recent surge in support is because his martial law made people start to wake up.
He mentioned that citizens of all age groups, especially those in their twenties and thirties, began to question the reasons behind martial law and seek enlightenment, realizing that South Korea could potentially turn into a communist country, reminiscent of a silent Second Korean War.
Company employee Park Min-soo (32 years old), who came with his wife and young child, mentioned that initially, the president’s approval rating plummeted after declaring martial law, but a reversal began as people, especially those in their twenties and thirties, started to investigate the reasons behind martial law online.
He explained that he too did extensive research and discovered the true actions of the Democratic Party, as well as the issues within the media. Despite the president’s achievements in sectors like nuclear power and shipbuilding, the media only focused on portraying him as incompetent and foolish, creating anger among the public.
He emphasized that the primary reason for supporting the president is the illegality surrounding his arrest warrant and the court’s approval, as this, along with many others, caused great anger, signaling the collapse of the country’s legal system. He also expressed concerns over South Korea’s policies increasingly aligning with China (CCP), especially in areas like espionage issues, making them feel the country is facing an existential crisis.
Lee Dongjoon (55 years old) mentioned that through the president’s declaration of martial law, many people, including some center and right-wing individuals in South Korea, have come to understand many facts, particularly the extent of Communist Party’s infiltration in South Korea. The CCP has been using money to influence individuals in politics, law, and media, with a severe threat of election fraud. He warned that if the public does not stand up to resist, the country would turn socialist like China, a concern that is awakening more people, hence the rise in the president’s approval ratings.
In addition to the significant increase in support rates, prices of Yoon Suk-yeol’s surrounding products have also shown a sharp upward trend.
According to South Korean media reports, prices of former President Yoon Suk-yeol’s merchandise on second-hand trading websites have been steadily increasing since the martial law incident. Following a decline in support after the martial law declaration, the price of Yoon Suk-yeol’s watches, which had dropped to around 50,000 Korean Won (approximately $34), has recently risen to around 200,000 Korean Won, with unused watches reaching up to 300,000 Korean Won. Besides watches, stamps, hanging clocks, mugs, and various other surrounding products related to Yoon Suk-yeol have appeared on second-hand trading platforms.
South Korean media analysis indicates that the gathering of Yoon Suk-yeol’s supporters has significantly impacted the second-hand trading market.
The tradition of manufacturing presidential watches started during the Park Chung-hee era. Despite the watches being priced relatively low, their scarcity and symbolic meaning make their second-hand prices generally exceed the original cost. In June last year, South Korea began selling surrounding products including watches to commemorate Yoon Suk-yeol’s second year in office, anticipating his continued presidency.