“YOU CAN SING!”
Local media have reported that Yoon is particularly enamoured of British wartime prime minister Winston Churchill.
As president, Yoon has maintained a tough stance against nuclear-armed North Korea and bolstered ties with Seoul’s traditional ally, the United States.
Last year, he sang Don McLean’s “American Pie” during a visit to the White House, prompting US President Joe Biden to respond: “I had no damn idea you could sing.”
But his efforts to restore ties with South Korea’s former colonial ruler, Japan, did not sit well with many at home, as the issue remains sensitive in the country.
LAME DUCK
Yoon has been a lame duck president since the opposition Democratic Party won a majority in parliamentary elections this year. They recently slashed Yoon’s budget.
In his Tuesday night televised address to the nation, Yoon railed against “anti-state elements plundering people’s freedom and happiness” and his office has subsequently cast his imposition of martial law as a bid to break through legislative gridlock.
But to use his political difficulties as justification for imposing martial law for the first time in South Korea since 1980 is absurd, an analyst said.
“(This) is typically reserved for situations like war, emergencies or other similar concerns regarding threats to national security,” said Gi-Wook Shin, a professor at Stanford University.
“This situation will test the strength of Korea’s liberal democratic institutions and their ability to counter such actions,” Shin told AFP.
“It also sends a broader message to Korean politicians and democracies worldwide that political goals cannot be pursued through such undemocratic means.”
