‘Stop the Steal’: Yoon supporters in South Korea hope Trump will intervene | World news

Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol are adopting “Stop the Steal” slogans popularized by supporters of US President-elect Donald Trump and said they hoped the incoming president would help their embattled leader.

As Yoon’s supporters gathered outside his residence in the predawn hours of Friday in an effort to prevent his arrest, some carried signs in English reading “Stop the Steal,” a slogan Trump supporters used to question the results of the 2020 US presidential election, which he lost.

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Yoon avoided arrest on Friday after presidential guards and troops blocked efforts to execute a court order in a criminal insurrection investigation into his short-lived Dec. 3 martial law.

Trump, who will be inaugurated for a second term on Jan. 21, has not commented on Yoon’s situation and there are no clear ties between his campaign and Yoon’s supporters.

Also read: Who is Han Duck Soo, the new interim president of South Korea after the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol?

But searches for the hashtag #StopTheSteal, or “election fraud” in Korean, on social media platform X show recent posts uploaded by Koreans featuring memes whose design appears to have been inspired by Trump’s “Make America Great Again” sign.

Also read: As court reviews Yoon’s impeachment, a look back at South Korea’s martial law dispute

Yoon’s defense of his actions has also had similarities to Trump’s political rhetoric: He cites possible voting irregularities and defends the country from internal and external enemies.

While Yoon did not mention electoral issues in his initial declaration of martial law, he sent hundreds of troops to attack the National Electoral Commission (CNE) and later alleged that North Korea had hacked the CNE, but did not cite any evidence.

It said the attack was detected by the National Intelligence Service but that the commission, an independent agency, refused to fully cooperate in an investigation and inspection of its system.

The attack cast doubt on the integrity of the April 2024 parliamentary election, which his party lost by a landslide, and led him to declare martial law, he said.

At the time the commission stated that by raising suspicions of election irregularities, Yoon was committing a “counterproductive act against an election oversight system that elected himself president.”

The NEC said it had consulted the spy agency last year to address “security vulnerabilities”, but there were no signs that a hack by North Korea compromised the electoral system, and that voting is being carried out with paper ballots.

The issue has become a major talking point for Yoon supporters who say his declaration of martial law was justified and now hope their concerns will resonate with Trump.

“He could really help President Yoon,” said university professor Lee Ho-chung, adding that the audience for his English-language poster “Stop The Steal” was both Americans and Koreans.

Pyeong In-su, 71, holding a flag of the United States and South Korea with the words “Let’s go together” in English and Korean, said he was confident in Trump’s return to save Yoon.

“I hope Trump takes office soon and raises his voice against the rigged elections in our country and around the world to help President Yoon return (to power) quickly,” Pyeong said.

Seo Hye-kyoung, who held a “Stop the Steal” sign with the Chinese flag, claimed that “the Chinese have come to our country and stolen our votes.”

When asked about the NEC’s public denial of election fraud, Seo said he trusts Yoon. “The president is not someone who would say something bad,” he said.

Hundreds of pro-Yoon protesters surrounded the presidential complex, some spending the night outside in sub-freezing temperatures, hoping to avoid the attempted arrest.

“Invalid challenge,” protesters chanted, some of them sporting the American flag often found at conservative protests around the country.

Trump has been impeached twice but acquitted.