In 2022, Yoon, then an incumbent prosecutor, was elected president by a wafer-thin margin, defeating his rival candidate Lee Jae-myung. His election victory was largely due to his resistance to pressure to fall in line under the previous Moon Jae-in administration, which had appointed him as prosecutor-general. That made him look like a justice warrior refusing to kowtow to authority, leading to a sudden rise in popularity among voters.
Although he managed to win the presidential election, often referred to as the "election of the unfavorables," where the two leading candidates slung mud at each other over various scandals with many questions remaining unanswered and suspicions unresolved, his victory by the slimmest margin of 0.73 percentage points meant he would face significant challenges with the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), which holds a super-majority in the National Assembly.
The political novice, who began his presidency amid a slew of scandals involving his wife Kim Keon Hee and other allegations, has been consistently assailed by the DP. Moreover, controversy surrounding the selection of ministers and other key officials, several diplomatic blunders, and clumsiness with blunt remarks, coupled with the global economic crisis, sent his approval rating into a tailspin shortly after.
To make things worse, his administration faced heavy criticism for its mishandling of major tragic incidents such as a deadly Halloween stampede in Itaewon in October 2022 that claimed 159 young lives, the drowning of a young Marine during a rescue operation in July 2023, and several others.
Amid such mounting pressure, the Yoon administration's struggles culminated in a massive defeat in the general elections last April, which was widely seen as a referendum on his presidency. The ruling People Power Party (PPP) suffered a humiliating setback, securing only 108 of the 300 seats in the National Assembly, compared to the DP's 175.
The latest revelation of the first lady's alleged interference in the PPP's candidate nomination process has further intensified his troubles, adding to the woes from previous accusations against her such as a stock manipulation scheme and the acceptance of a luxury handbag.
But it remains uncertain what led Yoon to resort to such a decades-old measure - the declaration of martial law - early this month, a move that could be seen as characteristic of an authoritarian regime, despite his implausible explanations of eliminating "pro-North Korean forces" and protecting South Korea's "constitutional order."
In a pre-recorded nationwide address earlier this week, he defended his abrupt declaration of martial law as a "legitimate exercise of his authority" in managing state affairs and vowed to fight until the end.
But his address, which lasted about 30 minutes to justify his actions and vent his fury over opposition forces, sparked even more public outcry, and with a parliamentary vote to impeach him on Saturday, Yoon's duties as president were immediately suspended less than two weeks after his aborted Dec. 3 martial law gambit.
Born in Seoul in 1960 to a relatively wealthy family, Yoon studied law at the prestigious Seoul National University. He was not an academic high-flyer, passing the country's notoriously difficult bar exam in 1991 on his ninth attempt and becoming a prosecutor at the age of 34.
Yoon had a steady career until he revealed in a parliamentary audit in 2013 that he was being pressured by ranking government officials in investigations, becoming famous for saying "I am not loyal to any person," a remark that led to his demotion to provincial prosecutors' offices for years.
But he dramatically returned to the spotlight in 2016 when he was appointed to spearhead an investigation into Park's cronyism and influence-peddling scandal involving her toxic confidante Cho Soon-sil, which led to Park's eventual downfall.
Yoon was appointed prosecutor-general in 2019, just a few years after Moon replaced Park as president. Moon instructed him to "sternly investigate even those in power," and Yoon obeyed these words, which ironically incensed his erstwhile patron, leading to a clash with him as Yoon investigated his aides including former Justice Minister Cho Kuk.
Yoon's unwavering persistence and defiance against government pressure at that time unexpectedly garnered widespread public support from conservatives and other voters, leading to his election as president in 2022, despite his lack of political experience and multiple scandals surrounding his wife. Yoon married with Kim in 2012, when he was in his early 50s and the two have no kids but several dogs and cats.
Yoon, who encountered a bumpy road from the very beginning of his term and stumbled through about half of his five-year single-term presidency, now faces his fate as the Constitutional Court begins deliberating the case, which could eventually decide the course of his political career. Once upheld, he would become the second South Korean president to be impeached, following Park.
reporter
Kim Joo-heon
jhkim123@ajunews.com
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