In South Korea, the law has not spared any person, not even the President, if they are found to be engaged in wrongdoing and illegal activities. Yoon Suk-yeol is the third South Korean president impeached while in office. In 2016, parliament impeached Park Geunhye, the country’s first female president, over a corruption scandal. The Constitutional Court upheld her impeachment and dismissed her from office.

In 2004, President Roh Moo-hyun was impeached in parliament over an alleged election law violation but the court later overturned his impeachment and restored his presidential powers. But the dramatic development of December 2024 has scarred South Korea’s image as one of East Asia’s democratic strongholds. Many decades ago, the late famous political scientist Robert Scalapino, a much revered scholar on East Asia had written a column wherein he examined the rationale of some of the Asian countries that gained independence after World War II and choose the authoritarian model of governance. Such a choice was acceptable to restore order and carve out a path for rapid economic growth. Examples of South Korea and Taiwan were cited.

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This was a transition phase which subsequently led to the establishment of democracy. Unfortunately, South Korea has defied such a model time and again after having accepted the restoration of democracy but having again returned to the authoritarian system of governance. In a column for Japan Forward, Monika Chansoria states that authoritarian regimes in South Korea have declared martial law 15 times since the country’s founding in 1948. Though democracy is still seen as a preferred choice, there are certain flaws, which is why the country’s presidents have attempted to function under authoritarian model of governance with varying consequences. The list below is illustrative of the observation.

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1. Syngman Rhee (1948- 1960): Overthrown

2. Yoon Bo-Seon (1960- 1962): Overthrown

3. Park Chung-hee (1962- 1979): Assassinated

4. Choi Kyu-hah (1979- 1980): Removed by a military coup

5. Chun Doo-hwan (1981- 1988): Sentenced to death after the end of the presidential term. Commuted to life imprisonment and later pardoned.

6. Roh Tae-woo (1988- 1993): Sentenced to 22 years in prison after the end of the presidential term. Later pardoned alongside Chun.

7. Kim Young-sam (1993- 1998): Placed under house arrest during the term of President No 3. As president, he secured convictions against two of his predecessors.

8. Kim Dae-jung (1998- 2003): His swearing-in marked for the first time in Korean political history that the ruling party transferred power........

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