Evangelical preacher Jun Kwang-hoon is one of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s most fervent defenders, calling Yoon’s December 3 martial law declaration a “gift from God”.
“If the Constitutional Court decides (to impeach him), we will mobilise the people’s right to resist and blow them away with one blade swoop,“ Jun told hundreds of supporters during a service held Sunday outside Yoon’s residence.
They have cause for concern.
“President Yoon started the cleansing with his declaration of martial law. The people and I will finish it together,“ Jun said Sunday.
Jun is already under police investigation in connection to the storming of a courthouse in January, with two of his followers arrested at the scene.
'Found his flock'
Around a quarter of South Koreans are Christians, and Jun has “found his flock among the elderly underclass of South Korean society”, said Kim Jin-ho, a theologian and analyst.
As a result, Jun has raised an unlikely coalition behind Yoon -- older Koreans steeped in Cold War ideology and a young, mostly male cohort fluent in an internet culture scornful of politics.
“He is the only one brave enough to speak truth to power.”
If Yoon is formally removed by the court, it would trigger an election in 60 days. As they confront the real possibility of a coming poll, even mainstream conservative politicians are eagerly jumping on Jun's bandwagon.
Their association with the firebrand pastor helps them “gain a base of loyal voters”, said Jeon Sang-jin, a sociology professor at Seoul’s Sogang University.
'Destabilise South Korea'
Police are on high alert after riots broke out over the removal of Park Geun-hye from office in 2017.
Yoon had no choice but to “sacrifice himself and declare martial law” to purge the “worms infesting the country’s executive, legislature and judiciary”, lawyer Seok Dong-hyun told the huge crowds at one of the pastor’s protests.
“This kind of messaging may provoke his supporters to reject the Constitutional Court’s verdict and incite another violent incident like the courthouse riot last month,“ Lim said.
“This will not only undermine the country’s judicial system, but destabilise South Korea's political foundation at its very core.”
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