In the wake of Tuesday night’s on-off declaration of martial law, as bewilderment turned to anger and the nation, it seemed, realized President Yoon Suk Yeol would likely be impeached for treason, one or two people voiced an opinion which I had not expected: Can’t we stop insulting President Yoon Suk Yeol?, they said. At least until we know for sure what his reasons were?
I could have argued. In fact, I could have laughed. But I’ve been married long enough to know that there is often merit in opinions that are the opposite of my own and that the only way to find out what it might be is to contemplate, rather than immediately react.
I will add that this was made easier because the first person who said this to me was not a fan of President Yoon. She was defending the office, not the person.
At the same time, something was puzzling me. That was the silence of the president himself. Why didn’t he come out and resign, or perhaps plead for understanding and mercy?
I imagined him, in his bunker, explaining to the first lady how his dramatic move to protect her — inspired, I wondered, by U.S. President Joe Biden’s fatherly overexercise of his power to pardon his son — had failed. But she, knowing he had put her before his work, was reassured that he loved her.
But now that things are calming down, I’m beginning to wonder if I had missed something and that there was some method in........