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Opening a new chapter for our democracy

Published: 30 Dec. 2024, 19:28

Lee Ha-kyung
The author is a senior columnist of the JoongAng Ilbo.

I was about 20 years old when, in the early hours of one morning, officers barged into my home without a warrant and dragged me away to some unknown location.

With my eyes covered and hands handcuffed, I heard someone vilely whisper into my ears: “Democracy? That’s nonexistent” before torturing me. The nightmare from my first-hand experience 46 years ago with the gruesome Article 9 of the Martial Law Act, placing media and publications under military control and mandating that anyone defying the proclamation of the Martial Law be subject to arrest, detention, and search and seizure without a warrant, came rushing back on the night of Dec. 3 when the decades-old draconian apparatus was abruptly revived.

Top executives from one of Japan’s largest companies visited Korea amid the tumult of short-lived martial-law event and presidential impeachment. They conditioned that the meeting, originally scheduled for Jeju Island, be moved to near the Incheon International Airport so that they could quickly board a flight back home in case of a contingency. To them, Korea today was no safer than conflict zones in Latin America or Africa.

President Yoon Suk Yeol was the commander of an armed insurrection plot. He shows no shame or guilt for his morbid act that wreaked havoc on the economy and security. He reasoned the declaration was merely to serve as a “warning” to the unruly main opposition party. His lawyers claimed the president never uttered the word “arrest.” Yet the commander in the operation testified he was instructed to “fire when necessary” and break into the National Assembly to yank out lawmakers inside trying to vote against the presidential decree.

General-turned-president Chun Doo Hwan, later tried for a civilian massacre during the martial law he invoked following his military coup, vehemently denied issuing a fire command as the act amounts to a grave felony. Commanders were reportedly told to stay on alert by Yoon, who apparently believed he could go on invoking a second or third marital law after the first one was lifted by a legislative injunction. The prosecution confirmed the president had plotted to create a new parliamentary body after destabilizing the opposition-led legislative. A memo by the former Defense Intelligence Command outlined a directive for provoking a North Korean attack along the Northern Limit Line. All the evidence says Yoon lied when he claimed the martial law declaration was just a scare tactic.

The president clearly has lost the eligibility and ability to govern. Even ruling party members agree he must be removed from office. Yoon promised not to shy away from legal and political liability for his action. But he remains defiant of summons from investigative authorities. He seems to think he can return to power once he convinces the Constitutional Court of the legitimacy of his action. What will the world think of this country if that really happens?

And what about the governing People Power Party (PPP)? Most of its members did not show up to vote down the presidential marital law decree. Some of them ended up joining the opposition-led impeachment against the president, but the party’s decision was to oppose it. The party also was against the acting president endorsing the legislative recommendations of candidates to fill the three empty seats on the Constitutional Court bench even as the two top courts approved the nominees. The nine-member bench will lose two more justices to retirement on April 18. Without replacements, the court will be left with only four members, losing the quorum necessary to oversee an impeachment trial. Is the party hoping to buy time and help Yoon’s return? Does it seriously want to align itself with a leader who dismantled the key conservative pillars of constitutional order and security?

The party must atone before the people before it’s too late. It must pave the way for Choi Sang-mok — the deputy prime minister serving as acting president — to endorse the three justices to the Constitutional Court. Choi must ensure that no stone is left unturned in the investigations of the martial-law event. It is the least he can do to make amends for failing to stop the president from the ruining the country as a senior member of the Cabinet.

The main opposition also must reflect on itself. Its bills enabling the opposition to solely name the counsels for special investigations into the insurrection plot and allegations related to the first lady could contradict the Constitution. It must find more neutral figures after consultation with the PPP. The party acted immaturely in impeaching former prime minister Han Duck-soo, who as the acting president, was the most qualified person to reassure the United States and other allies about the country’s reliability.

Adam Przeworski, a Polish-born professor emeritus of political science at New York University, observed that “choosing governments by election is a speck in human history,” noting that since 1780, political power had changed hands 570 times through elections and 607 times through coups. The typical lifespan of democratic regimes was around 20 years with those lasting more than 50 years being extremely rare. Korea was democratized through the 1987 constitutional regime, and over the last 20 years, three presidents faced impeachment. Its democracy has been shaken, but it is premature to lose hope.

A slave has mistaken himself for an emperor and staged a coup with his guards. While the individual’s character and excess were largely to blame, the mighty presidential power that enabled such a reckless attempt demands an overhaul. Power must be decentralized so that unilateral actions are effectively checked. The president should be co-named as the head servant lest he or she forgets.

The president must have an apparatus repeatedly reminding him of the impeachment consequence. In his book “Democracy and the Market,” Przeworski wrote, “The grass of my meadow was not as green as I had thought,” reminding that democracy is often accompanied by inevitable disillusionment. And yet, the system remains the best political institution for humankind. Citizens must become the true master of this diverse society through separation of powers and political cooperation. Now is the time to open a new chapter for our democracy through constitutional reform.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.