By Hyunsu Yim, Eduardo Baptista and Minwoo Park
SEOUL (Reuters) – Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol are adopting the “Stop the Steal” slogans popularized by supporters of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and said they hope the future president will help their leader in the fight.
As Yoon’s supporters gathered outside his residence before dawn Friday in an attempt to prevent his arrest, some carried signs in English saying “Stop the Steal,” a slogan used by Trump supporters to question the results of the 2020 US presidential election. which he lost.
Yoon escaped arrest on Friday after presidential guards and soldiers blocked efforts to implement a warrant in a criminal sedition investigation into his short-lived martial law on Dec. 3.
Trump, who is set to take office for a second term on Jan. 21, has not commented on Yoon’s situation and there are no clear connections between his campaign and Yoon’s supporters.
But searches for the hashtag #StopTheSteal, or “election fraud” in Korean, on social media platform X show recent posts uploaded by Koreans containing memes whose design appears to be inspired by Trump’s “Make America Great Again” sign.
Yoon’s defense of his actions also bore similarities to Trump’s political rhetoric, in which he invoked possible voting irregularities and defended the country against enemies within and without.
Although Yoon did not mention election issues in his initial declaration of martial law, he sent hundreds of troops to attack the National Election Commission (NEC) and later claimed that North Korea had hacked the NEC, but provided no evidence.
He said the attack was discovered by the National Intelligence Service, but the commission, an independent agency, refused to cooperate fully in the investigation and inspection of its system.
The hacking called into question the integrity of the April 2024 parliamentary elections – which his party lost in a landslide – and prompted him to declare a state of emergency, he said.
At the time, the commission said that by raising suspicions of election irregularities, Yoon committed a “self-defeating act against the election monitoring system that elected himself president.”
The NEC said it had consulted the spy agency last year to address “security lapses”, but there was no sign North Korea’s hacking had compromised the election system, and voting was being conducted with paper ballots.
The issue has become a major talking point for Yoon’s supporters, who say his declaration of emergency was justified and now hope their concerns will resonate with Trump.
“He could really help President Yoon,” said university professor Lee Ho-chung, adding that the audience for his English “Stop The Steal” poster was Americans and Koreans.
Pyeong In-su, 71, holding a United States and South Korean flag with the words “Let’s go together” in English and Korean, said he was counting on Trump’s return to save Yoon.
“I hope that Trump will take office soon and raise his voice against rigged elections in our country and around the world to help President Yoon quickly return (to power),” Pyeong said.
Holding a “Stop the Steal” sign with a Chinese flag, Seo Hye-kyoung claimed that “the Chinese came to our country and stole our votes.”
When asked about the NEC’s public denial of election fraud, Seo said she believed Yoon. “The president is not someone who would say something wrong,” she said.
Hundreds of pro-Yoon protesters surrounded the presidential compound, some staying overnight in sub-zero temperatures, hoping to prevent an arrest attempt.
“Void impeachment,” chanted protesters with an American flag often found at conservative protests across the country.
Trump was impeached twice, but was acquitted.
