Japan Institute for National Fundamentals

　
Supporters of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol have been holding street rallies and mass demonstrations, attracting thousands to tens of thousands of people every day since an arrest warrant was issued for the president on December 31. In the early hours of January 19, some of them temporarily occupied the Seoul Western District Court and destroyed property there after the court decided to issue a detention warrant for the president.

Yoon’s supporters were holding paper leaflets with the words “STOP THE STEAL” written in red letters on a white background. This is a slogan raised by Donald Trump’s supporters in the U.S. presidential election, calling for not stealing votes through election fraud. On the back of each leaflet were the words “CCP OUT,” urging the Chinese Communist Party to get out. Yoon's supporters believe that the CCP masterminded election fraud in South Korea.

The delusional president

Not only his supporters, but Yoon himself believed in the election fraud theory, saying that he had declared emergency martial law because of fraud. Yoon published a long letter to the public through social media on January 15 when he was arrested, claiming that there was too much evidence of election fraud, and that international solidarity and cooperation were necessary for election fraud. He insisted that the opposition camp that currently holds the majority in the National Assembly won the election through fraud in cooperation with foreign forces. He emphasized that his martial law declaration was not a crime but the exercise of the president’s authority to overcome a national crisis.

However, there is no evidence of election fraud. Immediately after the martial law declaration, Yoon sent martial law troops to the Central Election Commission in a bid to take out computer data. The president attempted to find evidence of election fraud by Chinese and North Korean hackers, and dissolve the National Assembly and create a separate legislature by claiming that many of current National Assembly lawmakers obtained their seats through election fraud and lacked their legitimacy, according to military leaders’ testimony to interrogators. The claim is a complete delusion.

As in Japan, the counting of votes in South Korea’s elections is carried out manually at vote-counting stations under the supervision of witnesses from ruling and opposition parties. Then, regional election commissions identify and publish winners and send the vote-counting results to the computers of the Central Election Commission. Therefore, there can be no evidence of election fraud in the computers of the Central Election Commission.

Since the end of December, fake news has spread rapidly among the president's supporters that 90 Chinese hackers who were lodging at the election training center of the Central Election Commission were arrested by martial law troops and confessed to U.S. military interrogators of their election fraud not only in South Korea but also in the United States. Recently, the fake news added that the hackers were sent to a U.S. military base in Okinawa. Yoon’s lawyer brought up the fake news at hearings on the impeachment of the president at the Constitutional Court.

Conservative camp in chaos

Polls show that approval ratings for ruling and opposition camps are almost equal and opponents to the impeachment of Yoon have reached around 30%. Conservatives gathered together, being concerned that if the current situation continues, a left-wing government led by Lee Jae Myung will be formed and bring about a crisis as seen under the previous Moon Jae In government. However, half the conservatives believe in the election fraud conspiracy theory and support Yoon’s martial law declaration under which he tried to use military forces to arrest Lee Jae Myung and others.

“In order to oppose Lee Jae Myung, we must first overcome conspiracy theories and rebuild the conservatives,” said South Korean conservative leader Cho Gab Je. “Even if our opponent is a monster, we must not become a monster.”

Tsutomu Nishioka is a senior fellow and a Planning Committee member at the Japan Institute for National Fundamentals and a specially appointed professor at Reitaku University. He covers South and North Koreas.