A South Korean rock singer with 150,000 followers live-steamed himself breaking into a court building, alongside hundreds of other furious supporters of impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol.
For many of Yoon’s supporters like Choi Jin-ho – YouTube handle RockTV – the formal arrest warrant for the president was the final straw.
Choi’s seven-hour livestream includes scenes of chaos, as hundreds of Yoon supporters smash their way into the Seoul Western District Court, using fire extinguishers to break doors and smashing windows, and pouring up the stairs of the building.
“Why isn’t everyone up here? Come up here everyone” a protester is heard yelling in the stream, which remains available on his YouTube channel.
The president, who is suspended from office pending a final Constitutional Court ruling on his impeachment remains technically head of state but he has vowed to “fight to the end” and, even from his detention centre, has been regularly sending letters of thanks and encouragement to his hardcore supporters, who include far right YouTube personalities and Evangelical preachers.
Police have said they are investigating the involvement of right-wing YouTubers in the court break in, vowing justice over the illegal invasion.
But demonstrators at the scene interviewed by AFP were unrepentant.
Yoon’s detention “means the collapse of South Korea’s rule of law”, said Cho Min-shik, a 32-year-old construction worker, justifying his decision to break into the court, alongside hundreds of other protesters.
Yoon’s legal team has repeatedly claimed the president’s arrest was illegal, despite multiple court rulings upholding both the warrant and its execution.
Cho’s hand was covered in blood after he smashed his way into the court, but he showed his injury to AFP like a badge of honour, saying he was not ashamed of his actions.
“All procedures against Yoon have been illegal. As President Yoon has said, Korea’s legal system has collapsed,” he added, without giving any evidence.
Police deployed 1,400 officers to quell the unrest at the court, which experts said was “unprecedented” in South Korean history.
Yoon’s legal team issued a statement which effectively blamed the court and police for the incident.
Many Yoon supporters interviewed by AFP repeated conspiracy theories claiming South Korea’s parliamentary elections last year, won by an opposition landslide, had been rigged – an idea even Yoon himself has endorsed.
The rhetoric reflects misinformation about electoral fraud that has long circulated among far-right conspiracy theorists in South Korea.
Fuelled by nationalist sentiment and strident anti-communism, their vitriol is often directed at liberal politicians, whom they accuse of being North Korean agents conspiring with Pyongyang to destabilise South Korean democracy.
“Yoon did nothing wrong! What sin has he committed?” said Lim Sarah, a 50-year-old protester as she livestreamed the standoff with police on her YouTube channel alongside her husband.
“Yoon needs to return to power to get rid of all the communists in the country,” said Lim, who has 5,000 followers on her YouTube channel and described herself as an Evangelical Christian.
“While it is alarming that conspiracy theories about rigged election are being shared by individuals, a more serious issue lies in how mainstream MPs have exploited these claims for their political gain,” said Bae Kang-hoon, co-founder of political think tank Valid.
“It only shows their intent to capitalise on such rhetoric for political advantage, prompting it to spread like wildfire from what was once a fringe narrative.” — AFP