The line for a selfie with South Korea’s disgraced former President Yoon Suk Yeol snaked around Seoul’s Gwanghwamun gate. Yoon himself, facing life in prison on insurrection charges, was absent—only a photograph stood in his place.
Yet, for thousands of young attendees at a rally organized by the right-wing group Freedom University, that image symbolized a defiant hero.
Spearheaded by 24-year-old Park Joon-young, Freedom University taps into deep disenchantment among South Korea’s youth, opposing what it views as a corrupt, ineffectual left-wing establishment.
In former President Yoon—who attempted to seize power by declaring martial law last December—they have found an unlikely icon.
Yoon’s desperate bid, which involved deploying troops to parliament and the election commission under unfounded claims of foreign conspiracy, collapsed within hours.
Outraged citizens blocked soldiers, and lawmakers scaled walls to vote down the order. The swift impeachment and ongoing trial were widely seen as his political demise.
However, to a growing segment of disaffected young Koreans, the spectacle transformed Yoon from a failed leader into a martyr.
Freedom University is channeling this sentiment, recasting an act of constitutional subversion as a bold stand against a broken system, and using it to recruit a new generation into a nationalist, anti-establishment movement seeking to “Make Korea Great Again.”
By James Kisoo
