February 18, 2025
SEOUL – In South Korean history, five of the country’s 13 presidents have been arrested and jailed either during their time in office or afterwards. Being behind bars has limited their ability to communicate with the public as freely as they did when in office. Still, most of them choose to send messages through visitors and their legal representatives, signaling that they still hold influence. Impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has been detained in the Seoul Detention Center since last month, is no exception.
Several conservative ruling party lawmakers have visited Yoon in jail and delivered his messages to the public through the press afterward. He has been criticized by the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea for carrying out “prison politics” in recent weeks. Though some might think Yoon simply doesn’t want to be forgotten, there are likely ulterior motives lurking beneath his actions, according to observers.
On Feb. 3, Yoon received his first round of visitors consisting of a delegation of People Power Party lawmakers, which included interim leader Kwon Young-se, floor leader Rep. Kweon Seong-dong and five-term lawmaker Rep. Na Kyung-won.
Immediately after their visit, Rep. Na started conveying Yoon’s message to reporters waiting outside the detention center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province.
She said that Yoon had told them that his martial law decree had been his attempt to “resolve the situation where the management of state affairs was paralyzed due to the Democratic Party’s ‘one-party dictatorship within the National Assembly’ with a feeling of heavy responsibility.”
She added that Yoon had told them he felt relief that his “martial law decree was able to reveal to the public the various acts by the Democratic Party that paralyzed state affairs.”
The second round of party visitors to Yoon on Feb. 7, by a pair known to be his avid supporters, People Power Party Reps. Yoon Sang-hyun and Kim Meen-geon, unfolded in a similar manner.
Immediately after wrapping up their 30-minute visit with the detained president, Rep. Yoon told the press that Yoon said he believed he did “a great job” by appearing at his impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court the previous day.
The main opposition party criticized Yoon’s moves to relay his messages through visiting lawmakers as “prison politics” via a spokesperson.
“Instead of apologizing or calling for unity among the people, President Yoon has rolled out the opposite message following his meetings (with ruling party lawmakers) -– he has been lining up all the (members of) the ruling party through his prison politics,” Democratic Party spokesperson Rep. Han Min-soo said.
Yoon’s moves to deliver his messages through visiting PPP lawmakers amount to an attempt to unify his supporters and voters, at a time when the conservative bloc is looking to see recovery in his popularity, according to an expert.
“It’s an attempt to unify Yoon’s hardcore fans and supporters by repeatedly feeding them the information that it was (allegedly) the Democratic Party’s unjust acts that pushed him to declare martial law,” Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University said via phone.
“It would be difficult for the conservative party and the impeached president to ignore the fandom that emerged through the imposition of martial law, especially for a (conservative) bloc that has long struggled with popularity,” he said.
Yoon is viewed as one of the country’s least popular presidents. He has been struggling with low approval ratings ever since being elected by the narrowest share of the vote in South Korean history — 0.73 percentage points — in 2022, against liberal rival and now-main opposition party Chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung.
Yoon’s botched martial law decree on Dec. 3 damaged his reputation globally, but at the same time, revealed something that was hidden before –- Yoon’s hardcore far-right fans.
Yoon’s supporters, calling for his immediate release from prison, have not only held frequent rallies but also allegedly plotted and carried out a violent riot in which they attacked and broke into Seoul Western District Court on Jan. 19. Prosecutors recently indicted 63 individuals for committing violence and vandalism at the court, for attacking it over its decision to issue a warrant for Yoon’s arrest.
“But this so-called prison politics could ultimately backfire against Yoon and the ruling party, as the impeached president could become a symbol of far-right conservatives, and alienate relatively more moderate voters,” Shin explained.
Yoon isn’t the first president criticized for orchestrating political maneuvers from behind bars. Former President Park Geun-hye, who had a sizable fan base of her own, did not meet with multiple lawmakers while she was in jail from early 2017 to late 2021, convicted for corruption and abuse of power. Her only interactions were with former People Power Party Rep. Yoo Young-ha, who served as her legal counsel at the time.
Instead however, her messages were conveyed through Yoo and a book of letters written in prison published in late 2021.
A month ahead of the 2020 presidential election, she called for unity among her supporters and conservative voters to vote for Yoon, who was the conservative presidential candidate at the time, through a handwritten letter released through Yoo. The Democratic Party at the time criticized Park for riling up her supporters while serving jail time.
In her book, a collection of letters written from prison and published just hours before her release under a presidential pardon, she defended herself against the crimes for which she had been convicted. She insisted that she had never engaged in anything “ugly,” such as abusing her power to benefit those around her for personal gain.