Clearing the insurrection is not a revolution

Chung Hyo-shik

The author is the social news editor at the JoongAng Ilbo. 

At the western end of the National Mall in Washington, a white marble temple stands on a hill overlooking the Potomac River. It is the Lincoln Memorial, honoring Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States. Inside sits a 5.8-meter marble statue of Lincoln gazing solemnly toward the U.S. Capitol, located about 3.2 kilometers directly across the Mall. The orientation symbolizes Lincoln’s resolve to preserve the Union against the forces of secession.

On the south wall of the memorial chamber is inscribed the famous line from the “Gettysburg Address” (1863): “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” On the north wall appears Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address (1865). Delivered just 41 days before the end of the Civil War, the speech did not celebrate victory or call for the destruction of the rebellion. Instead Lincoln spoke of healing, reconciliation and national rebuilding. “With malice toward none, with charity for all,” he said, urging Americans to bind up the nation’s wounds and pursue a just and lasting peace.

Against that historical backdrop, the current political confrontation in Korea over how to clear the remnants of the recent insurrection makes Lincoln’s appeal to unity seem distant. The ruling Democratic Party has pushed ahead with a sweeping judicial restructuring agenda, following its effort to abolish the prosecution service with the so-called “three judicial reform bills.” Critics in the legal community, the press and among the public warn that the changes could undermine the criminal justice system that has been in place since the founding Constitution of 1948, as well as core principles of democratic governance such as the separation of powers and judicial independence.

The debate soon widened inside the ruling camp itself. A dispute emerged over whether prosecutors in the proposed Public Prosecution Office should retain the authority to conduct supplementary investigations. Hard-line reform advocates clashed with other figures within the pro-government camp.

At the center of the controversy is Kim Eo-jun, a YouTuber with 2.28 million subscribers often described as an influential voice among supporters of President Lee Jae Myung. During a YouTube broadcast he hosted on March 10, one panelist suggested a conspiracy theory that senior government officials and prosecutors had discussed a trade involving the preservation of investigative powers and the cancellation of indictments against Lee in the Daejang-dong development and North Korea remittance cases. In the following day’s broadcast another panelist said that if the allegation were true it could even constitute grounds for presidential impeachment.

The word “impeachment” being openly mentioned within the governing camp less than a year after the administration took office is unprecedented in modern Korean politics.

The main opposition People Power Party has shown little greater coherence. With local elections roughly 80 days away, internal conflict over party leader Jang Dong-hyeok’s refusal to apologize for martial law and overhaul the party’s political line has led to an extraordinary situation. Incumbent provincial leaders such as Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and South Chungcheong Governor Kim Tae-heum refused to apply for the party’s nomination.

Such actions resemble a declaration that the party has little intention of contesting the election. Yet only a day later the party’s 107 lawmakers unanimously adopted a declaration opposing the political return of former President Yoon Suk Yeol. The statement, dubbed the “No Yoon Declaration,” appeared contradictory given that some within the party had previously hinted at support for Yoon’s comeback despite his life sentence in a first trial on insurrection charges.

Lincoln’s own pursuit of national unity was arduous. The Civil War, which claimed about 850,000 lives, remains the deadliest conflict in U.S. history. Even today its legacy continues to shape American politics. After the war the United States rebuilt its constitutional order through amendments guaranteeing the abolition of slavery and expanding civil rights and voting rights.

Reform, as President Lee himself has noted, may be cumbersome. Yet inconvenience does not justify a revolution. Once the election season passes, Korea’s ruling and opposition parties must confront the constitutional confusion that has arisen in the aftermath of the insurrection and work together to restore stability.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.