MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Late on Tuesday night, the president of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, declared martial law in his country. In a public address, he said frustration and political opposition drove him to act. What followed was political and public outrage, protests. Within hours, President Yoon had revoked the declaration, and now lawmakers in South Korea have filed a motion to impeach him. Here to try to make sense of all this for us is Gi-Wook Shin, director of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center. Thank you very much for joining us.
GI-WOOK SHIN: Thank you. It's my pleasure to be here with you.
KELLY: Did that summary get us caught up, or has more happened? Where do things stand now?
SHIN: So as you mentioned, you know, he revoked the martial law. Yesterday, in Korea time, the assembly voted to impeach Mr. Yoon. Now, the full assembly has to, you know, vote whether to pass this impeachment or not.
KELLY: It seems a lot of people were surprised by this. The U.S. government seems to have been a little surprised by this. Were you?
SHIN: Oh, yes. I was really surprised. Actually, I woke up yesterday morning with a breaking news on my phone saying, you know, martial law in South Korea. And I couldn't believe that because, you know, this is 2024. You know, this is not 1979 or 1980. I was a college student at the time. I still, you know, vividly remember the declaration of martial law by authority leaders in 1979 and 1980. But now, Korea has changed a lot, has become a democratic nation. But still, having, you know, martial law now, I mean, I couldn't really believe. But luckily, as you mentioned earlier, the president revoked the martial law. So I think that's good news.
KELLY: Should people in Korea be worried right now about their future of their government, future of their democracy?
SHIN: I think, yes and no. I think for a short term, there will be a lot of uncertainties and maybe instability in politics and society, maybe even in the economy. But in the long run, I think Korea has strong democratic institutions. So I think, in the end, I believe that Korea democracy will prevail. And I remain optimistic, especially that such a move like martial law, you know, failed, you know, quite badly and very quickly.
KELLY: What are the implications for relations between Seoul and Washington?
SHIN: I think this is an interesting question because it looks like Seoul didn't really inform Washington in advance of this move, so it looks like Washington was taken back. But at the same time, I don't think this will affect the alliance that much. I think it will be interesting to see the dynamics between Yoon and Mr. Trump, once he assumes presidency next months. So in a sense, both countries will have two, you know, strong men and strong men leadership. And how they will interact with each other - that will be interesting to watch, to say the least.
KELLY: To say the least - and indeed, we - it sounds like a little bit of a wild card over who will be president in Seoul by the time that President-elect Trump comes to office here in Washington.
SHIN: I mean, that's an open question. So if assembly pass the impeachment, you know, in the coming days, it will go to the constitutional courts for final verdict. And if they impeach him, then Korea has to take Senate election within two months. So it's not impossible to have different president by, let's say, next summer or so. But still it's open question. There will be a lot of uncertainties and a lot of instability in Korean politics in the coming weeks and months.
KELLY: Gi-Wook Shin is founding director of the Korea program at Stanford University. Thank you so much.
SHIN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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