Episode 01| Youth in Action : Democratic Resilience After Martial Law in South Korea

Jul 10
26 min read

Updated: Aug 2

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TRANSCRIPT

Stella Micheong Cheong 00:15

Hello everyone, and welcome back to the season 4 of conversations4citizenship. I'm your host, Stella Micheong Cheong from Yonsei University, and I'm so excited to kick things off with you today, this season with diving head force into South Korea's ongoing political crisis, a moment that's shaking the nation to its core. On December 3, 2024, President Yoon Suk Yeol dropped the bombshell by declaring martial law, sparking outrage across the country. His move to impose military rule was slammed and unconstitutional, and it didn't take long for massive protests to interrupt. People took to the street demanding the restoration of democracy and the rule of law. Despite Yoon’s defiance, he was indicted yesterday on charge of leading an insurrection last month, when he briefly imposed martial law, he became the first president in South Korean history to face criminal charges while still in office, the fallout has been intense. South Korea is now wrestling with deep political polarization, violence and a lot of uncertainty about what the future holds for its democracy. To help us make sense of it all, we've got three incredible young South Koreans joining us today, all of whom were on the front lines of the protest to restore democracy and the rule of law, we will hear their personal stories, their thoughts on South Korea's poor democracy, and their hopes for where the country goes from here. And finally, we'll dig into the big picture. What can the world learn from South Korea's fight for democracy? How can the resilience of its citizens inspire global efforts to protect and defend democratic values? It's going to be a powerful conversation. So let's jump in. Hi, Yoosun Yebin, Junseo, it's lovely to see you all. Thank you for joining the conversations4citizenship podcast. We are really excited to have this conversation with all of you. Before we dive deep, could you share a bit about your background, your age or your major, whatever you want to tell and what motivated you to participate in the protest Yoosun, would you like to?

YooSun 03:14

Sure, Sure, no problem. Hello, thanks for inviting me to this podcast of yours. I'm so pleased that I'm given the opportunity to open the fourth season of the C4C podcast with you guys. My name is Yoosun Kim, but you can call me sol, which means sun in Español. I majored in philosophy and sociology, and I recently finished my undergraduate studies. As you can see from my major, I'm deeply interested in man and world. Of course, I have great interest in social justice, and this naturally led me to social engagement. I began my journey as an activist during my high school years, initially focusing on youth labor rights. Over time, my advocacy expanded to include feminism, disability rights and LGBTQ plus rights, and my commitment to activism continues to these days. Thank you

Stella Micheong Cheong 04:20

All right, thank you. And Yebin?

Yebin 04:26

I'm Yebin Lee, and thanks for inviting me to the podcast today. I'm a university senior in Korea, and I major in international studies, but what actually motivated me to participate in the recent protests and joined the podcast is not really related to my major. I think what brought me here is my personal interest in civic education, feminism and other human rights movements. I've been engaging in these movements since I was in high school, so it was easy for me. Ends up participating in the protests, and I hope to share my thoughts in the lens of my interest today. Thank you.

JunSeo 05:11

And I'm a medical school student, also a member of a domestic NGO called association of divisions for humanism. And also, like the other two speakers, have participated in many different protests like the climate just this March, the Queer parade, or protests demanding for public health care and public hospitals. So it wasn't a new or difficult decision for me to actually go to the public school and talk about my political opinion, but the reason why I started actively participating in this particular protest calling for the president's impeachment. Interest in particular, I thought that our democracy wasn't a real threat, and I thought it was crazy that the President actually attempted a South coup and try to restrict fundamental rights using the army. And I knew that in our history and in global history, such stress towards democracy were often defended by investing other than people who actually came out to the streets speaking out for human rights and democracy. And this is why I'm actively participating in the purchase.

Stella Micheong Cheong 06:20

Alright, okay, thank you. Thank you so much. Yoosun and Yebin, Junseo for sharing your motivation to participate in the current protest, and then in terms of this protest, civic engagement, could you describe your personal experience during the recent protest against present Yoon's martial law declaration. And how do you feel your generation voice is being heard in this political discourse.

Yebin 06:57

I will start (all right, of course). So I want to start off with like recalling my memories of the day when Yoon declared martial law. So I very vividly remember the day because Yoosun and I were studying late at school for the finals, which was a few weeks ahead of us, and we got this message about the declaration from our friends, and at first I didn't believe it, because it just didn't seem to make any sense to me at the moment, because martial law was something our generation read only in history books, but as we saw it all over the news, we realized this was real, and we had to admit that something is was happening. So we decided to head to the site on the day, and when we arrived at the National Assembly subway station, we saw helicopters hovering in the sky and busses filled with military forces in black suits. We later figured out that they were commandos. I've never seen them before, so it was really shocking, and reporters noticed us because of our school jackets. We were wearing our University School jackets, and they asked us if we could have like, a short interview. And ended up interviewing with two foreign newspapers and one Korean newspaper, I remember how they kept asking how it felt to witness martial law being declared, but all I could answer at the moment was that everything felt very unrealistic, and I didn't understand what was going on. So yeah, I remember how chaotic it was at the day there were, there were a lot of people already on the streets protesting, and there were live broadcasts of the news, and after we came back later, the day after the declaration, Yoosun and another friend of us gathered to write a handwritten poster. I don't know the exact like term for this, but the political posters that you wrote right with your hands. That's what university students usually do when they want to, like, point out an issue or a problem. So we decided to write that and post it on our school walls. So. we spent another few days writing the poster, and think that was how our first week after the declaration went. So, yeah, I wanted to share my personal experience on that.

Stella Micheong Cheong 10:17

Wow. Yeah, fascinating. And what about Yoosun?

YooSun 10:21

I think, Yebin just explained it. What I just faced on the day he declared martial law. So I had same experience as Yebin did, because we really didn't have much time to split it out and doing something else than thinking about martial law and how this political crisis will being ended, I guess so,that was it. I was completely felt this isn't what our democracy would look like, and I had to do something else than sitting around in the campus. So basically, we wrote handwritten posters and go out party participating in the protest. And, yeah, I remember those kinds of things.

Stella Micheong Cheong 11:43

Oh, yeah, yeah, I emphasize what you said exactly. And Jusa, would you like to add your experience?

JunSeo 11:51

I think you saw any being shared vividly and precisely about what happened at the day of martial law. And I have, I have been participating in the protests held after the martial law which are proceeding, and I particularly did medical volunteer work with my NGO colleagues. And I also want to add about your question asking whether young people's voices are being heard. And I want to point out that the political square right now, the political square talking about use impeachment, is not perfect, and it is very fast to go through. So want to share this story. So in one of the protests, like about one week after the martial law, one woman who identified herself as a lesbian and feminist, feminist activist gave the speech about the misogynistic politics done by Yoon and the ruling party, and she also said that we need a safer Public Square for women to speak out because there were misogynistic speeches given by people, even as the impeachment speech, even in the protests for Yoon's impeachment and when she shared her feminist aspects, I heard some middle aged men near me booing at her, and many people did So, I would say misogyny and antique sentiment is still in public square of the anti-human protests. So I think, although I think it isn't the thought that the majority and in the other hand, I also want to say that these problems are getting better. So during these few weeks, more and more LGBTQ citizens have been speaking out, and people are talking more about more human rights issues, including workers’ rights or LGBTQ rights, so they're not only calling for the impeachment of Yoon, but also more equal and healthcare to 30 that after as impeachment. However, I do think we need to wait and see whether these can actually be really implied in Parliament, because some important bills like the yellow and below that and the anti-discrimination act are not being passed by Parliament, even though the Democratic Party has the majority of the seats. So for young people's voices to be fully heard in actual politics, I think we need to work on these other factors to be also solved.

Stella Micheong Cheong 14:25

Alright. Thank you so much for your powerful thought and reflection on this impeachment or this martial law, the declaration of martial law, and your civic participation So following up your answers, I wondered, what were your thoughts, your opinions, what were the main factors that led to the current political situation? I don't want to tell this crisis, but we we must tell political turmoil or political crisis in South Korea. So what's the main driver or main factors? Yeah, what do you want to tell to share your thought?

15:10

YooSun 15:11

our first answer for this question, I see this declaration was due to President Yoon's Obvious incapability as a leader. And this might sound extreme, but to be honest, is stupidity. We and I, I want to also must take into consideration how our constitutional system failed to prevent today's political crisis by our constitutional system. I'm referring to the 1987 new constitution, which grants a five-year imperial presidency. And I would like to quote some sentence from my handwritten protest poster, so it goes like the declaration of martial law on December 3 is not merely President Yoon’s Personal deviation the failure martial law, or in other words, whereas President Yoon’s attempt to coup was possible because he was president, this clearly indicates the fundamental flaws in our legal system. We have neglected to reform the martial law that allows a president to single handedly push the nation into a state of war. The unpredict President declaration of martial law on December 3 is the result of both personal ignorance and lacks political and legal systems. Ultimately, it presents a failure of us all. Yeah,

Stella Micheong Cheong 17:16

Thank you, Yoosun, any other thoughts?

JunSeo 17:19

I also want to add that this political crisis was not only because of you martial law. So if we think about why many people are in the public square right now calling out for Yoon’s political impeachment, I don't think it's only because he declares martial law. So during his periods, Yoon oppressed the strike of workers, like, most famously, the Transport Workers Union strike and the construction workers union. And he was also very ignorant about labor rights, like he tried to make people work longer hours, and he tried to decrease the tax of the rich. And he was also won by a campaign infamous to be very misogynic promising people. He would get rid of the Ministry of Women and family, which plays roles about gender equality in South Korea. And He also denied structural gender inequality. So I agree that it was very stupid political decision for you to declare martial law. But I think a lot of people in the working class, many women, many people of the LGBTQ community and many others were already very angry about his way of politics.

Stella Micheong Cheong 18:37

Oh, wow. I didn't know about that. Junseo thank you for sharing your thought. Yebin, would you like to add your thought?

Yebin 18:48

I think you saw mentioned deeply, went through the cover the issue, so I don't have much to add. I agree to what they have said. So reflecting on Yoon's presidency, and even before, I think we could say that this kind of event was kind of coming towards us, I didn't expect a declaration of martial law, but democracy was failing, and we have seen social minorities losing their voices constantly, so I kind of saw it coming. And yeah, so just like what Junseo said, I wouldn't say that it's only about his problem, or this, this incident.

Stella Micheong Cheong 19:51

Okay, So, yeah, been, thank you so much. So I would like to ask you, Yebin, in terms of your thought, your response. Because long before declaring martial law, there are a lot of issue in terms of political discourse in South Korea under the presidency. So I wonder the solution, not about the solution, but anyway. So-called 'Solutions.' What reforms or changes to the political system or political system do you believe are necessary to prevent the current, the political turmoil or crisis in the future? Do you have any idea, or, I know this question is quite tricky, so just feel free to share your thought.

Yebin 20:49

So before we came here today, actually, June, so you, son and I, we came together and kind of talked about the issue and shared our thoughts on this, and we all agreed that we do need the Korean political and legal system does need some kind of change in that, a constitutional reform, for example, so the Korean democracy has matured over the past 40 years, but we need institutional systems that match This level of development, but and also the gradual development of discussions done in the civic society as well. Yes, so that was one point we talked about, and we also talked about how a constitutional reformation, should I say is needed, because the current system, like Yoosun mentioned earlier, allows The president to continue a imperialistic presidency for five years, which I think was one of the biggest reasons that one of the biggest reasons we are facing declaration of martial Law today. So did I like? yeah, yes, wonderful! It's tricky question for us. So we look through documents, we try to follow the news, but still, you know, being in the middle of the situation, it was really difficult to imagine or come up with a solution, because, it’s still very chaotic, and to be honest, South Korea wasn't able to deal with this for decades. So yes, to put it, I think we could say we need more discussions, more open discourse, and we need constitutional change.

Stella Micheong Cheong 23:38

All right, yeah, brilliant, and Yoosun and Junseo, do you want to add something?

YooSun 23:46

she has always said everything I want to say.

JunSeo 23:51

I also want to ask that. I think many people think that the President has too much power. And although I don't know if this is really the best option. I do know that many people think that the President system, this is this might be a reason the presidential system should change to another system, like maybe a parliamentary system, like the European style. So that would be controversial in Korea. And I also think that there should be per se for diverse political opinions and for different parties in order to lessen political polarization.

Stella Micheong Cheong 24:31

Okay, yeah, I do agree. I do agree your thoughts and your suggestions, so-called the solution, and when it comes to solution to tackle this political crisis, I'd like to talk about the education, especially the citizenship education. So what role do you think education plays in fostering a strong democratic culture in South Korea, do you agree the education to play a key role to solve to resolve this conflict, political conflict?

Yebin 25:08

This might sound too skeptical in front of experts on education, but as someone who grew up in Korea and spent the teenager years in Korea, I'm pretty skeptical of the impact of Korean education on our so-called democratic culture, because, as like everyone would know, Korea is very well known for our extremely stressful and competitive education system. It often pushes students to their limits. I have experienced that, and that fosters individual, very individualistic behavior, I think, and this poses a significant threat to democracy. So reflecting on my experience, as I said, it was my peers and social media mostly that taught me about the civic movements and social engagements, the importance of it, and how to share my thoughts, both offline and online, and following the news and reading the books also helped a lot, but not actually regular school education. So I did learn the basics in school, but they usually remained merely a textbook level, usually excluding the voices of social minorities, like women, children, persons with disabilities or the LGBTQ community. So I think this makes me a skeptical about the education system's positive impact on Korea's democratic culture.

Stella Micheong Cheong 27:07

Oh yeah, you have been thank you for honest opinion, your reflections, any other thought or any other suggestion Yoosun and Junseo, would you like to share?

YooSun 27:22

Sorry, you go first.

JunSeo 27:26

I do agree that current education has many limits. Like, we don't learn enough in school about civil participation, and we don't learn enough about human rights, like especially minority rights, like LGBTQ rights, or what, what rights we have when we work. However, I do want to note that we learn a lot in history class about our history, and modern history is about it has a lot to do with resistance. In the early 20th century, we resisted against colonial we were the colony of Japan, and we resisted against, resisted against Japanese Imperialism, and there were many people in history who took a role in that part, and our modernist Korea has also a lot to do with like the Gwangju Uprising, or the June Uprising. We learned that our democracy was defended by people in the streets trying to defend human rights and democracy. So I think that did play a role in this impeachment process, how people participate in.

Stella Micheong Cheong 28:49

Thank you Junseo and Yoosun.

YooSun 28:52

One thing I would like to point out is that his book, protests in Korea current time does not guarantee nations overall quality of democracy, because democracy in Korea does have many holes. So despite sharing similar resistance ideals, like, for example, as as Junseo mentioned like the our resident resistance for towards Japanese Imperialism or mid 20 centuries dictatorship. Some people recently gather at Nam Tae-Ryong’s confrontation, while others protest in front of Seoul Western District Court. This divided response itself reveals something else. I believe this reveals something so reflects. Reflecting on this, we can clearly see what direction civic education in Korea should take, I guess, civic education must be firmly established within the school curriculum, and people have to deeply imagine about civic education promptly.

Stella Micheong Cheong 30:17

Oh, yeah, Yoonsun. Thank you so much. Yeah, I do agree. Unfortunately, at the moment, we the South Korean government didn't interpret the citizenship education into the national curriculum. We don't have any specific textbook regarding the citizenship education. But personally, I do believe this moment could be integrated into textbook for the future generation, because I was inspired by seeing a lot of young generation in the protest. So touching moment to me. But anyway, yeah, let's move on another topic. As Junseo pointed out the Gwangju Uprising in 1980 and the June Uprising in 1987 but I think the based on this kind of the past pro-democracy movement, the Korean, South Korean democratization, could be developed. I wonder about you envision, your thought the future of South Korean democracy and the next five or 10 years after this political situation. So what do you think?

YooSun 31:36

Hopefully, I'm looking forward to meeting a developed career with well-established civic education and society that embraces and reflects my minority voices and I envision a space that fosters equality and happiness for all members of our community.

Stella Micheong Cheong 32:05

Thank you, Yoosun and Yebin, would you like to add?

Yebin 32:10

Yeah, sure. So I don't want to sound too critical negative about everything, but I think it's safe for us to say that we are now living in an era of democracies failing, and I think South Korea is also one of those countries facing that crisis. So I remember when President Yoon was elected as a president and the foreign press. The Foreign Press was highlighted how he was elected through misogynistic politics. Yeah, because at the time, one of his main themes that he talked about was banning the Ministry of Women and family. So a lot of people disagreed on it, but there were more people who actually were pro on that decision. So I think that was kind of like the warning signal of Korea starting to fall apart. And that was like it had been. The opinions, especially covering social minority issues, have been very, very much polarized decades ago, but with President Yoon being elected. I think it was the moment when that polarization was very clearly shown to all like throughout the nation, not only among people who were interested. But what did Korea do ever since that happened, I don't see what we have done much still, of course, pro activists, or anyone who had interests before, tried their best to, like stop Yoon from continuing to make bad decisions. But it was only those people, like the majority, the mainstream media or mainstream politicians, didn't actually do anything to get this problem fixed, the polarization problem get fixed, or misogyny or. Or social minorities being just ignored. So if we keep on this stance, I guess we have much worse than better waiting in five to 10 years. So I really hope, especially the young generation, to get more interested in this, these issues, and actually, like acknowledge that this could be a crisis to our country.

Stella Micheong Cheong 35:33

Yeah, I think so. And then Junseo, do you want to add your thought?

JunSeo 35:40

I also agree on his opinion that our democracy is in endangered right now. Because I especially, I especially felt this when far right protesters protested and they actually threatened the legislation system. And I saw this like two years ago when in the United States, when Trump lost the I was like four years ago when Trump lost the election, his supporters took over the Capitol. And when we saw the rights in the United States, and when we saw far rise and faces Far East winning elections and being main political groups in Europe, I we thought that we this was another country's story. But now we know that this is potentially, this can potentially be our story, and political polarizations are going on more than any time in like the past 10 or 20 years of Korean history. So I really think that it is important for people right now as public square to keep our democracy, like even after Yoon's impeached, and for our democracy to be able to strike.

Stella Micheong Cheong 37:03

Yeah. Thank you so much. as Junseo mentioned, unfortunately, we are witnessing a lot of country like the US and the some of countries in Europe became more and more the far right and the neoliberal, would you like to send some message to convey to other young people around the world, those the country, the US or the Europe, about the importance of protecting or nurturing democracy.

Yebin 37:37

I would actually want to hear from them, how they their society, they dealt with the problems. Because I remember when I was in high school, like it was the European countries back then where they had these fascist parties on the rise. And I remember being it kind of like a global issue at the time, like seven, eight years ago, so and time passed. So actually, I would like to ask them, like, how the global society or the European or democratic societies have dealt with the problems. And yeah.

Stella Micheong Cheong 38:25

Thank you. So let's talk about this later on. And Yoosun, Would you like to share your thought, your message?

YooSun 38:37

This time, I realized that the crisis of democracy is right in front of me, because for many years, I just heard the news about democracy beings in crisis globally, and I treated it as someone else's problem. But it was naive to think that Korean democracy would be immune to such threats, and now I realize that President Yoon election might have been the starting point of the democratic crisis in Korea. So I guess simply suspending Yoon from his duty doesn't automatically restore democracy. And what comes next? What comes next is crucial. Citizens must maintain their views and keep watching until this happen goes end, yes.

Stella Micheong Cheong 39:59

Yeah, that's important, thank you for sharing your message to our young people around the world, and Junseo?

JunSeo 40:12

I want to tell other young people that we need to have coalition and solidarity under the ideas that we think are important, like equality, peace or antiwar, because, like historically, antiwar movements around the world have actually ended wars. And the faces movement and like historically, the faces movement have happened in many different countries around the world at the same time, but at the same time, antiwar movements and anti faces movements have also happened in many different places over the world, which actually has impacts. So I think that many students around the world should work together to have a stronger and better democracy, and also for a more equal and peaceful society.

Stella Micheong Cheong 41:16

Thank you so much, and I know this is a crucial moment, I would believe this conversation would be helpful to another country, the young people across the world. I know that my colleague, Drs Adam and Kamille, you have a lot of questions, so it's time for you. So Adam, I'm going to hand over you.

Adam Peter Lang 41:39

Thank you very much, Stella, and thank you so much for that. It's very informative to hear you speaking. You're very reflective. I think it's good that you're skeptical and critical, critical thinking, and you almost challenge the way that we have seen in the West. And you actually articulated about your education system, which has been so sort of driven by results and everything, it's not allowing that scope to think you're certainly showing that you have that and you've been living in a historical time when you've actually been actors within that you've not just sat passively by and watched it go by. But I've got a couple of questions. Just one is in that sort of influence and that you've had, is that across the board in Korean society, or is it you talked about the sort of lineage you all sounded as though you got involved in critical thinking when you were at high school and you've taken that on to university? Is it a sort of student, young people issue, or are the majority of people in Korea wanting to defend the democracy or a young democracy, aren't you? But how do you think about that? Have there been links made with other groups over this particular, you know, crisis that you've been talking about? I don't know who wants to have a go at that one.

Yebin 43:03

I was just organizing my thoughts so links with other groups.

Adam Peter Lang 43:10

I mean, just across Korean society, is there a kind of groundswell that enough is enough, and we need to move on from this in a in a way which is unifies the country, or is it more of a young people's issue, or certain activists?

Yebin 43:25

Okay, good, I get the question. Well, though I don't have that much expertise in politics, in my view, I think it's for this particular issue. I think the overall generation is having interest, but when we see the percentage of the population actually participating in the protests, I think it's mostly focused on the younger generation, but the younger generation also covering like people in their 30s and 40s as well, not just like teenagers or 20s, so relatively younger population and women in particular. So I think that is one point I could mention. But the but what's interesting is what's happening on the other side. The other side, meaning, like what Yoosun mentioned the rally in front of the judicial court. Because when we see the population there it was mostly young men. So I've seen experts trying to understand this like phenomenon of why there is such like difference in the population. So, yes. put it together. I think it's not only about the younger generation in particular, but it does show numbers. Do show that it's usually the relatively younger people participating. Thank you. Do either of you others want to comment on that?

JunSeo 45:19

I want to talk about different minority groups teaming up to resist against this political issue. So the farmer union in Korea called Cheonyong (The Union of Agricultural Workers of Korea), they took tractors from rural areas to protest in front of President Yoon’s residency, and the police stopped the tractors from coming into Seoul. But young people that became viral in social media, young people came to defend the Farmers Union. And I think that shows polarity between farmers who are usually more the older generations and the younger generations. So I think that this happens over generation, and I do think that many groups, including farmers, workers and maybe college students, are giving up to handle this crisis.

Adam Peter Lang 46:24

Thank you. Can I just quickly? Because I know we've got lots of questions, just follow that up with you all said or implied that there was something building up in your country. I mean, there was that terrible Halloween incident. Wasn't there about a year or so ago, mainly affected young people, I believe, I don't know, and also that terrible ferry accident a couple of years back. So there's been something building in your country. Perhaps, is there a feeling that enough is enough, and this is not sufficient, and this has brought it to a kind of head, to a watershed? Would you reflect on that or not? Is it a particular time in the history of your country or not? Perhaps I should rephrase that question. Do you think that there was something going on beyond just the president's power grab, as it were, as there is something more deep seated in your country that's coming through at the moment. I only say that because in our last series, we actually interviewed some people from Chile, and that young people were very involved in some of the changes in Chile 10 years ago. Those students, there are school students, but also we did something on Bangladesh recently, where young people have been at the vanguard of sort of political change there. So just wondered,

YooSun 47:51

I can barely say about the accident of ferry that drowned in the southern part of Korea, southern peninsula of Korea, because at the time, I was studying abroad, abroad, So I just heard what my peers and my friends experience at that time, I think in my reason and my friends recall that accident as one of movement of minors' activity, and when I was in high school, I participate as an activist of minor union that trying to protect the labor rights of minors, And it was naturally composed in our school, because there's lots of minors who working, both working and study at the time, and they were feeling bit pressures from the adults who are so basically in this Korean society, there's a pressures that if adults order something to minor, then the minor should follow the rules or their orders, and in this culture goes very harsh when it comes to their labor environment, and the problem goes lot gets bigger when minor has appearing any obesity, I guess, sorry.

Adam Peter Lang 50:00

No, that's very good. Thank you to reflect on that. We've got loads to cover, and I was just teasing out some points. Thank you so much for that. It's very interesting culturally. I'll pass over to Kamille now. Thank you so much, everybody.

Kamille Beye 50:10

Thank you guys. I really, really appreciate it. Your thoughts, and it reminds me so much of the US as I'm white, right outside of Washington, DC, I see the parallels between what's going on in South Korea and in the US. And I'm very curious about a couple of things. I know we don't have much time, but you guys talked about the idea. Well, not you guys. Lee specifically talked about the idea of the individualistic nature of South Korean society now, which is very much parallel to the US. And I wanted to know, how do you envision getting more into a cooperative spirit versus the individualistic spirit that's currently overtaking Korean society? That's my first question. And then my second question is, you talked about this idea of protesting does not guarantee democracy. That was from Yoosun. And so I'm very curious about, how do you get older people who are outside of this 40 and under age demographic to one see the challenges that the current South Korean government has manifested for society generally. And then, as you guys are all young, how do you get your voices heard in a way that magnifies the issue, so that people see the importance of it generally, outside of the protest portion,

YooSun 51:31

I think it is important to keep our voices loud as loud. And in personal opinion, I keep trying to make an make my personal space as a square and I if I have a chance to talk with other elderly person or public spaces, I often came with the question about this current crisis. And one thing I think I feel terrified about, is that this current voices of 20 to 30s can be erased by the major voices, for example, the major journalism or major politicians, so I think this time we should keep it together and show and keep talk to each other and keep our voices aloud is The most important thing we can do right now. Yeah, thank you.

Kamille Beye 53:05

Thank you. And what about the portion about, how do you build a more cooperative society versus an individualistic one? Anybody?

JunSeo 53:12

I've not thought that much of this matter, but I want to say that like 20 or 30 years ago, like when I think about 30 years ago, we were still recovering from dictatorship, there were many in the student in the college student society. There were many students’ unions that actually fought for human rights issue and political issues. However, due to the individualistic like ideologies that are they that may so those individualism makes a lot of those unions to be present anymore and college society, they think that even many students think that political, political issues should not be discussed so much in colleges. So like, for example, they're going to make club related to war movements in college and the students, the main student council won't try to approve the student club as because they discuss, because they are too political. So I think it is important to overcome these issues, and that can include like painting student unions because they're college students and in the working places. That could include making labor unions because labor unions and many other we need more specific organizations, because democracy does not, in my opinion, democracy does not only mean like apart just being a parliament and election does not mean that you have democracy. We need democracy in schools. We need democracy in workplaces, etc. So I think that unionizing people could help overcome the individualism.

Kamille Beye 55:28

Thank you so much. Have so more questions, but we don't have time. That was wonderful. You guys. Thank you so much. So, Stella, I'm gonna wrap this up. Yes, okay, so you have been Yoosun. Junseo, am I saying it right? Johnso I just want Junseo, okay, let me say it again. Okay, Junseo and Yebin, I just want to say it's been such a very enriching discussion with you young people telling us what's going on in South Korea, and just helping us to understand one, the youth movement and the need to speak out and speak up and obviously consistently speak about the challenges that you guys are facing in South Korea and how it impacts the future of generations of not just citizens, But how you guys view yourselves in a democratic society, and what you want your democratic society to look like. And I can't be more appreciative for that. It was a pleasure hearing about you, so I'm closing the episode. I am Kamille, thanks for listening to conversations4citizenship. We hope you enjoyed this episode. Be sure to subscribeConversations4Citizenship on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and Audible.And look for us on X @c4c_ed and bluesky @c4cpodcast.bsky.social.A transcript of today’s conversation with three college students can be found www. conversations4citizenship.com. This episode of Conversations4Citizenship was produced by Stella Cheong, Kamille Beye and Adam Lang, recorded and sound mixed by Stella Cheong. Thank you so much you.

EPISODE SUMMARY

*NOTE. This episode was recorded in January, 2025 In this episode of Conversations4Citizenship, Stella Micheong Cheong discusses South Korea's political crisis with Yoosun, Yebin, and Junseo, three college students who participated in protests against President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law on December 3, 2024. They share their motivations for civic engagement, analyze the political crisis, and reflect on democracy's fragility. Despite their concerns about political polarization and systemic flaws, they remain hopeful for constitutional reform and stronger citizenship education to protect democratic values in South Korea.

EPISODE NOTES

*NOTE. This episode was recorded in January, 2025

The first episode of Season 4 features three Korean university students—Yebin, Yoosun, and Junseo—who participated in protests following President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law on December 3, 2024. Initially, the students were shocked by the unprecedented military presence, describing the scene as "chaotic" and "unrealistic." Throughout the conversation, they explain their backgrounds in activism, ranging from labor rights to feminism and LGBTQ+ advocacy. They attribute the current crisis not only to Yoon's "incapability as a leader" but also to fundamental flaws in South Korea's constitutional system, particularly the "five-year imperial presidency."

Furthermore, they critically assess South Korea's education system, noting its failure to adequately teach civic engagement and democratic values. Despite this, they acknowledge how history lessons about past resistance movements have inspired current protests.

Looking ahead, the students express concern about growing political polarization but remain cautiously optimistic. They emphasize the importance of constitutional reform, stronger civic education, and continued solidarity among diverse groups. Most importantly, they stress that democracy requires constant vigilance, noting that "suspending Yoon from his duty does not automatically restore democracy."

To young people around the world facing the rise of far-right movements, Korean youth emphasize the importance of solidarity and coalition-building. As Junseo points out, "We need to have coalition and solidarity under the ideas that we think are important, like equality, peace or antiwar." Moreover, they stress that democracy requires constant vigilance, as Yoosun notes, "Citizens must maintain their views and keep watching." In essence, the democratic crisis is not someone else's problem—it requires collective action across generations and borders to protect and strengthen democratic values worldwide.

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