interview
The crisis surrounding President Yoon is also an expression of the country's political division, says South Korea expert Eric J. Ballbach in an interview. The protest against the imposition of martial law also shows the country's strength.
tagesschau.de: Seemingly out of nowhere, South Korea's president declared martial law, banning all political parties or activities in the country yesterday and placing the media under state control. How could this come about?
Eric J. Ballbach: It wasn't completely out of nowhere. It was the dramatic escalation of a development in South Korea's domestic politics in recent months, in which the two political camps became increasingly irreconcilable. In South Korea they speak of the “Nam-Nam split”, which means something like South-South division. The term describes how divided the two political camps in South Korea are, so that productive cooperation is hardly possible anymore.
Since the opposition party was able to expand its majority in the parliamentary elections in April, President Yoon has hardly been able to push through his domestic policy goals, in contrast to foreign policy, in which the South Korean president has a lot of leeway. But domestically there is a blocking attitude from the opposition. Recently, negotiations over a new budget failed.
To person
Dr. Eric J. Ballbach is a Korea Foundation Fellow in the Asia research group of the Science and Politics Foundation in Berlin. He previously worked at the Institute for Korean Studies at the Free University of Berlin. His research focuses on EU-Korea relations, South Korea's foreign and security policy, political dynamics of the North Korean nuclear program and identity politics on the Korean peninsula.
“Yoon apparently found himself with his back against the wall”
tagesschau.de: Nevertheless, it is a more than brutal act to then dissolve the entire parliament and send the military onto the streets.
Ballbach: The fact that he has now chosen this “nuclear option” of martial law is extreme and unworthy of a democracy. This has never happened since the democratization of South Korea. Yoon apparently felt his back was so against the wall that he considered martial law to be the last resort.
His approval ratings, which have been low for a long time, were only 17 percent in recent surveys. However, his calculations are difficult to understand. Since 2016, when the population took to the streets against then-President Park Geun-hye following allegations of corruption, we have known how resilient South Korean democracy is. Park was then removed from office.
“Debates are always more ideological become”
tagesschau.de: What causes the country's division? What is the underlying reason for the unforgiveness?
Ballbach: The government and opposition have very different ideas in key policy areas. This particularly applies to dealing with North Korea. The liberal camp traditionally focuses much more on integration and rapprochement, the conservative camp much more on deterrence and a deeper alliance with the USA. Every time there is a change of government, there is a 180 degree turn in foreign policy. This makes planning and collaboration difficult.
In addition, in recent years the debate has become more and more ideological, more and more personalized, and attacks have become more and more personal. And there is also the inglorious tradition in South Korea of legally prosecuting previous presidents if they do not belong to their own government camp. We have seen this with almost all former South Korean presidents.
Political system “without strong party ties”
tagesschau.de: However, differences of opinion and political competition are part of the essence of democracy and are desired. There should be democratic discourse and debate before a decision is made.
Ballbach: Yes, but we also see this phenomenon in other democracies, we see in many countries that polarization in political systems is increasing. In addition, the political system in South Korea differs significantly from other democracies. The party system is completely different. There are no strong party ties that sometimes span generations, as was the case in Germany for a long time.
There is no party loyalty at the local level. Rather, South Korean parties are a power circle around influential personalities. When these personalities disappear from the political scene, parties collapse. If disputes arise within them, they split up and new parties are formed. And that is certainly problematic.
“Democracy consolidated despite tough disputes”
tagesschau.de: At the same time, after martial law was declared, thousands took to the streets to defend their democracy.
Ballbach: In South Korea we see that democracy has become stronger despite the tough political disputes. We see that there is a strong extra-parliamentary democracy. People are taking to the streets, standing up for their democracy, for which, historically speaking, they have fought bloodily.
And this democracy must be defended. Not only did citizens take to the streets yesterday, unions also came together and called for a strike until President Yoon resigns. And then Parliament also rejected martial law.
The opposition needs the government
tagesschau.de: Would it have been conceivable that Parliament would not have opposed him? What would have happened then?
Ballbach: It immediately became clear that Yoon's party friends were also against him. The leader of the People's Power Party called the move wrong and immediately said he would side with the people. This also shows what an enormous risk Yoon has taken here.
Now the opposition is trying to start impeachment proceedings, but to do this they need votes from the government camp. But it seems that she is only a few votes short of this.
tagesschau.de: And what happens then? Will there be presidential elections then?
Ballbach: If the president is removed from office, a new election will be held within 60 days. This was also the case after President Park's impeachment. This gives the parties time for the election campaign.
“It can’t continue like this”
tagesschau.de: Do you hope that there could be a different political approach after an election, that parties and politicians will take Tuesday's events as a kind of wake-up call?
Ballbach: The rhetoric on both sides has escalated in recent months. Yoon did not get his domestic policy agenda passed, and there were no attempts to pass corresponding legislative proposals with the opposition. Both sides almost only went it alone. This can't continue like this.
One can only hope that the right conclusions are now drawn from this in South Korea and, after parts of the ruling party voted with the opposition in parliament yesterday, something like new communication channels emerge between the two political camps in order to draw the right conclusions from this situation pull. Both the economy and the country's reputation are suffering from the current situation.
The interview was conducted by Eckart Aretz, tagesschau.de
