Why South Korea Has So Many Protests, and What That Means

This news article really got me interested, because it does a great job explaining South Korea’s political situation, and made me realize how similar it is now to what Brazil was a couple years ago.

It begins by talking about a right wing protest that happened, in support of the current president, Yoon Suk Yeol, then continuing to give examples of many other rallies and protests that happened in the country recently.

As I continued reading, I was astonished by how similar things were to Brazil; they also have some weird right-wing supporters that keep waving American flags and saying they’re “Anti-Communism”. Or that churches keep using they’re reach to support conservative movements and candidates, making absurd arguments and spreading them to its followers, exactly like it happened in Brazil, or that Mr. Yoon has a strong opposition movement asking for his impeachment and that South Korea had an impeachment in 2017, just like Brazil did in 2016.

They made it sound like South Korea has its own Bolsonaro/Trump to deal with, as most of the examples of political movements they gave really made me instantly compare it to what was happening back home a couple years ago, putting into perspective how this extreme far-right wave of politics is a worldwide thing and not a exclusive one.

If I had to criticize one aspect of the article is that it doesn’t really puts into perspective the history of South Koreans protesting, such as the Gwangju Massacre in 1980 for example, they really have a extensive history of fighting for their rights.

But overall the article did a great job explaining the situation and making me realize how similar some things are, even if in the other side of the world.