South Korea: The role of the “Marie Antoinette” First Lady in President Yun’s failed coup

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s desperate attempt to overthrow South Korea’s democratic system and place the nation under martial law ended in dismal failure within mere hours.

Faced with spontaneous public backlash, with millions of citizens protesting—mostly peacefully but in massive and persistent numbers—the South Korean National Assembly voted overwhelmingly, 190-0, to immediately lift martial law.

Yoon had no choice but to abandon his plan to suspend political freedoms through a coup, supposedly “to protect South Korea’s democracy,” as he claimed in an unscheduled televised address when he declared martial law. The government, under his leadership, convened and repealed the emergency measures.

Thus ended, swiftly and ignominiously, the top-down coup attempt by the country’s President. South Korea came within a hair’s breadth of regressing to the totalitarian, unelected regimes that intermittently held power throughout much of its postwar history.

The Future of President Yoon

Attention now shifts to President Yoon’s future, who, even before this incident, lacked widespread support among the populace and was largely unpopular and unwelcome. He was elected last April by South Korea’s 22nd National Assembly but belongs to the People Power Party, a minority in the local Parliament with 108 seats compared to the Democrats’ 175, who dominated the April 10, 2024, general elections.

It is highly likely that Yoon Suk Yeol will be impeached within the coming days or even hours. His removal from office would automatically curtail the pro-Japanese sentiment simmering in South Korean politics, despite the country’s painful history of Japanese occupation.

The First Lady’s Influence

According to some interpretations, Yoon’s decision to declare martial law was driven by a desperate attempt to protect his wife, the charming yet highly controversial Kim Keon Hee.

Kim, 52, is 12 years younger than her husband, a businesswoman believed to exert considerable influence over President Yoon’s decisions. However, she has also been accused of corruption, prompting Yoon to try to shield her by granting her legal immunity from potential prosecution.

Before his presidential bid, Yoon served as South Korea’s Prosecutor General, playing a key role in prosecuting former presidents on charges of abuse of power. Ironically, he now finds himself in a similar position, especially after secretly recorded footage surfaced showing Kim Keon Hee accepting a lavish Dior handbag, allegedly as a gift in exchange for favors benefiting specific interests.

Public Backlash and Scandals

Most damningly, Kim is accused of orchestrating a behind-the-scenes role in a stock market scandal that enraged South Koreans and subjected President Yoon to intense criticism for corruption. In response, Yoon promised that his wife’s actions would henceforth be overseen by an independent authority, though this did not imply any retrospective scrutiny of her past conduct.

President Yoon lashed out at his critics, accusing them of targeting and demonizing Kim Keon Hee by spreading baseless and slanderous rumors to politically damage him.

However, Kim is as unpopular in South Korea as her husband. She is often likened to a South Korean “Marie Antoinette”—an arrogant and ruthless figure solely interested in wealth and power, widely believed to control President Yoon as if he were her puppet.

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