Are we undergoing a make-or-break national crisis or kind of having the time of our lives? Yes

Uhhh so the Hitler fan who carried out martial law edicts, or "fucker who used to be Minister of Defense" as my husband calls him, allegedly tried to run to the U.S. first but the Embassy turned him down (HA-ha) and then tried to get to Japan via Jeju Island. Evidently finding this too complicated an operation, he got his secretary to book the flight. The secretary ratted him out to the opposition Democratic Party--yeah that's right, not the police or prosecutor's office, but the DP because the prosecutorial organizations are all politicized & compromised to hell by Yoon who is a former top prosecutor--which is how the martial law commander got arrested.

We've been hearing a lot about quiet disobedience at all levels, from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to individual soldiers, that put the brakes on martial law and prevented tragedies. Talking about them would be a thread of its own: One of the most prominent is probably JCS's pushback on the administration's idea to FUCKING ATTACK NORTH KOREA to generate a crisis. Or a Special Forces commander's decision not to give live ammunition to the units who went into the National Assembly.

Another wrench in the gears I just heard of is the counterespionage troops who were sent to raid the Elections Commission on the theory that the opposition DP came to power through election fraud. This is, unsurprisingly, a thoroughly discredited right-wing conspiracy theory that was thrown out for lack of basis despite 120 claims being brought.

Evidently all 100 counterespionage agents, judging the order to be illegal, did no more than photograph the server racks at the Commission, a "we were here" selfie if you will, and wandered the streets, waited elsewhere, or ate instant ramyun at convenience stores. "They were just following orders," huh? Well how about... not following blatantly illegal orders and eating ramyun instead.

But imagine how mystifying it was to be a NEC worker on duty that night, uniformed soldiers rushing in in the middle of the night (shit we're dead) and then... snapping a few meaningless pictures and leaving. (???) At least at the National Assembly it was pretty clear what was going on, at the NEC it must have been Confusion City until they caught the news and Oh Shit.

More info from the night of 12/3 rolling in and we are learning more and more how close a call it was and the uncounted people in all areas who had to put brakes on the machinery of political violence and repression. The rioters who got off taxis in congested Seoul traffic and simply ran to the National Assembly, the ones who biked there, rioters surrounding military vehicles and yelling at the soldiers that it was martial law and they had to stop, the father who called his officer son to beg him not to hurt or kill civilians, telling him how to disable his gun and those of his platoon if they were given live rounds.

We have a recording of that call, btw, because the father recorded it just in case it was the last time he heard his son's voice. Fuck Yoon and fuck all oppressors and mass murderers, may they be cursed down the generations and never know peace.

Seeing these stories I am once again humbled by how we worked together in the face of crisis and how incredibly lucky we were. Most of all we are lucky to have each other, and to have each others' backs. Hoping this crisis will be over soon so we can get back to our usual schedule of annoying and disliking each other, it's awkward to hold so much warm fellow-feeling in my body.

My main political emotions at this point are rage and schadenfreude, going like this:

Rage: Watching the PP Party walk out of the Assembly chamber on the night of the first impeachment vote, denying it a quorum.

Rage intensifies: Watching a PP Assemblyman brag about how everyone will forget about impeachment in a year and he can get elected as an independent if need be.

Mild schadenfreude: Watching the PPs do their march of shame out of the National Assembly to screams of "Collaborators!" on all sides.

Increasing schadenfreude: Hearing about screaming crowds surrounding a PP's car and berating them as they tried to leave.

Schadenfreude intensifies: People picketing PPP HQ, throwing eggs at and sending mocking flower arrangements to individual PP offices, blowing up their phones with tens of thousands of pro-impeachment messages when PPs' phone numbers got leaked en masse.

Will I ever reach maximum schadenfreude? When all their electoral chances go down the toilet, their sorry excuse for a political party gets disbanded as an unconstitutional political group, and they live and die in shameful infamy, maybe. But I'll still have more than enough rage left.

This is a "magical girls, unite!" moment, right?

After the PPP's walk of shame out of the Assembly chamber and the ensuing blowback, one of three PPs who came back to vote on the impeachment agenda (though he announced he voted against--but ykw the bar is so deep in the toilet even a "no" or abstaining is better than walking out) is now coming out in favor of impeachment and urging his party to do the same. He also promises there are enough votes in the PPP (just 5 more are needed) to push impeachment through, so maybe the second vote will be the charm 🤞

Cops acting as basically crowd traffic cops, directing pedestrians to Exit 5 to protest, Exit 6 for photo shots and thiiiis way, please, to sign the impeachment petition! 👉

From the cabbie who canceled the fare charge for a protester who got off at the Assembly

to the conductor of the No. 9 metro line who told protestors to stay warm and thanked them for what they were doing

transportation is keeping it moving.

Feeling sick hearing the commander of the Special Forces who went into the Assembly on the night of 12/3 testifying to that same body today that Yoon directly called him that night ordering him to clear the way to the Assembly chamber by any means necessary and stop the vote before they could get a quorum.

Seeing how many staffers were packed between the troops and the chamber, and after considering possible means including shooting blanks, tasers, cutting off electricity, physical force, etc., the commander took the advice of his staff that this was an illegal order and they'd be ordering their troops to commit multiple crimes including treason.

So the commander decided to disobey the fuck out of a direct order from the President and retreated, and the vote went ahead without farther physical confrontation. We were so terrifyingly close to disaster and I am shaking from both rage and gratitude. Imagine that, disobeying blatantly illegal and dictatorial orders is a thing!

The PPs had better realize it is in their best interests, like in their actual self-preservation interests, to get the impeachment vote through this week. If they obstruct again I will join the inevitable riots to throw rocks at PPs and burn their fucking HQ to the ground, because it's clear at this point that Yoon is a direct physical threat, and so is anyone who will take his side after knowing all this about him. I no longer care if people die in the process, because if Yoon tries shit again millions more will die. The impeachment vote, and I mean THIS impeachment vote THIS WEEK, is the last chance in Hell anyone is giving the PPP to start resolving this situation within legal bounds--not because the law is sacred or any such bs but it's the safest, most orderly option for everyone in this situation. If the PPs refuse to do things the easy and nonviolent way, it will be on their heads. I hope they realize this.

Me: So if impeachment fails on the 14th I'm going over to PP Party's HQ.
Husband: Go for it! ✊ It's right next to the Assembly building anyway.
Me: Maybe I should take the trowel to dig up paving stones as projectiles?
Husband: Could be tough, it's all asphalt in that neighborhood
Me: I guess we'll figure something out when we get there.

It's kind of hilarious to me that friends abroad are concerned about my and my family's safety (which I appreciate a lot, don't get me wrong) while the father of my child is 100% on board with my plans to join a riot if things go south xD

It's possible our sense of safety and risk is all out of whack, but there's also the fact that pretty much no one in the country outside of Presidential security and maybe a few unreasonably dedicated brownshirts are willing to hurt any rioters and endanger their own future for Yoon's sake. And barring it being a very surreal night we won't be seeing either group anywhere near the Assembly.

Also I think we both know my middle-aged, out-of-shape ass is never getting on the first lines of attack anyway. There are way too many angry-as-hell folks who will get there screaming ahead of me and probably leave nothing standing by the time I get there 😭

DP Assemblyman Park Seon-won on rushing to the National Assembly just before Yoon's announcement when he realized it might be martial law:

"I lived in the age of May 18 [when a military junta declared martial law and slaughtered Gwangju City citizens in 1980]. I'm from Naju [near Gwangju]. I thought, 'If I go anywhere but the Assembly, I'm dead. They'll tie a rock to my legs and drop me into the sea, or stick my body in some rice paddy.'

"So if I was going to die, I might as well die at the Assembly. At least there it would end with a bayonet in my side. I got there as fast as I could."

Someone commented on a lyrics video of Into the New World, a 2007 song by early Kpop group Girls' Generation, that they're 56 and learning the song ahead of going to the National Assembly protest. And omg the replies are so wholesome?? So much encouragement, gratitude for the older generations' participation in the pro-democracy protests of the 80's, and declarations from young people that they're learning the classic protest songs, too 😭 You definitely hear a mix of songs played at protests, and I'm going to catch up on the new ones and brush up on the old.

The failed coup leader Yoon took to the Presidential podium to give a nonsensical tirade riddled with far-right talking points like false allegations of election fraud, and that he declared martial law to "make the citizens aware" and "send a warning." It was so awful even his own party leader has turned against him and is calling for impeachment, dropping this guy as the political liability he is.

And yes, Yoon's "rhetoric" is ridiculous and in total denial of reality, but that speech was not meant for the 90% of the country who have written him off as a dangerous, irrational would-be dictator. It's for the 10% who want dictatorship and military rule, and will use the conspiracy theories he spouts as justification. Truth and facts are inconvenient to their goal and therefore ignored. The very outrageousness of martial law was a play to this demographic, which has tremendous seductive pull as economic and other situations deteriorate and can be joined by another 20%, 30% and more. We see it happening with countries falling to fascism all over the world.

I believe we'll get rid of Yoon but that's just the minimum. He's openly making calls to fash and looking to a new political realignment. This is a bigger danger than any one bad President.

Cho Kuk, the leader of one of the opposition parties working against Yoon, was just sentenced to 2 years, putting him behind bars and out of the running in electoral politics for a while. It's not great news but it's fine, it's not like opposition politicians going to jail on overstepped charges is a new thing and baby, this ain't nothing compared to what Kim Daejung and other oppo leaders went through in the military dictatorship years. He went on to become the President of Korea and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, so not too shabby tbh.

Yoon also claimed he had to declare martial law because the National Election Commission refused audits despite their machines being easily hackable by North Korea* and I think anyone can understand the impulse, like who amongst us has not considered martial law to perform server maintenance

* Again, entirely debunked and untrue, laughed out of every court--sound familiar?

It's kind of hilarious to watch attitudes to Yoon go from anger to disgusted near-pity. The opposition leader is like, "I hope he'll come to realize, all that power and wealth mean nothing in the long run :/" and others shake their heads discussing how his brain has been eaten by far-right YouTube. Experts point out that Yoon's preemptive legal defense--martial law as a political act above judicial review--is an outdated doctrine already rejected by the Supreme and Constitutional Courts, while people comment that his political ideas are stuck in the 70s and early 80s, confirming my thesis that Koreans may tolerate fascism but never being unfashionable.

And then there's the scads of ableism directed at Yoon's supposed mental state. As I pointed out a few posts up, Yoon's words and actions are a calculated appeal to fascist elements. This is why fascist leaders often cut seemingly comical, ineffectual figures--until they take over and the liberal laughter fades. Ableism about Yoon is incapable of hurting him and only leads to underestimating him, while everyday neurodivergent and Mad people WILL be hurt by this ableist rhetoric. Fascism is not a mental illness, it' a set of beliefs and actions.

Husband, watching me sing Kpop from memory and work on crafts: Are you going to a protest or a picnic?
Me, tying garland lights to a mini-fan: Why choose?

Pengsoo compels it: Impeach

I got over here listening to the Assembly livestream and they're voting now. Yeouido Station is pandemonium, so packed the trains don't stop here anymore (I think the one I took was almost the last before the cutoff) and I'm slightly worried about crowd crush, especially for the little kids. The station is running announcements over the system for protest attenders. I'm trying to go the opposite way like they said and waiting for the people coming my way to ticket out. Staying out of the way as much as I can and ready to climb one of the token machines if the crowd gets too bad. Fortunately the crowd is thinning out because the trains don't stop here.

All right! Passage has cleared a little now and we're on the way out. The crowd control is really good, trains are stopping again so better hurry up there ahead of the new arrivals--and hopefully in time for results? We're roasting here in the clothes we've layered on in preparation for the cold 🥵

IMPEACHMENT PASSED FUUUUCK YEAHHHHHHH everyone is ecstatic!!

Oh wow, so yesterday was A Time all right. It was such a load off to have the fucker's official powers taken away so he can't try anything big again, though we'll still be watching him.

I got the impeachment vote news in the subway, as previously mentioned, so I basically became one of the crowd who got there in time for the celebration after the work was done lol. We still got some good shouts of "Arrest Yoon Seok Yeol" and parading in. So much cheering, flags waving, glowsticks thrusting in time to the music and chanting.

There were so many people I couldn't move around on my own and went with the flow of the crowd for a circuit around the streets until the parade spat me out and I circled back. By then most of the families and older people had left and it was a smaller (but still huge) crowd of mostly young women, and there was a celebratory outdoors party playing Kpop. It was so fun, with tens of thousands of glowsticks waving, people singing along, the beat of the speakers thrumming in my chest, parading flags, dancing. It was an amazing relief after 10 days of constant anxiety, and enjoying myself with this furiously joyful crowd made it all the better.

A lot of parents brought their young children to show them this historic moment and the process of democracy, and I remember one 11-year-young man whose placard said he was born on December 14, 2013 and marching on his birthday to impeach Yoon. People in the crowd warmly wished him a happy birthday amid the screams of ARREST HIM all around, so that was certainly a memorable birthday evening xD I hope he had a great celebration afterward.

As seen on social media, one parent who brought their child asked if it weren't tiring walking so much, to which the child replied, "No, it was fun! We should do this again." And everyone was like um no, let's not.

So a few days ago on December 12 (itself a fraught anniversary in modern Korean history from the successful military coup of 1979), failed coup leader Yoon broke his silence to argue that his martial law decree was "symbolic" and a "warning" to bring attention to the opposition DP's excesses. No one is sure how to explain to him that sending troops into the National Assembly is not performance art.

He also said the opposition DP was leading a "sword dance of madness" against him, and idk about you but it seems like a bad move to make one's enemies--who are actually rather boring, staid liberals and conservatives for the most part--sound so super rad, eh?

Husband: But what if the Constitutional Court lets him off?
Me: Don't worry, we'll just burn the Court down

Me, watching a documentary about the coup attempt: Honey, that's our Assemblyman shouting at the martial law troops!
Husband, watching: Well I voted for his opponent in the primary...
Me: Who cares, you voted for him in the election and that's what counts 🤗

Yoon's choice of martial law/military coup to seize power is mystifying and irrational until you read it in the context of Umberto Eco's Ur-Fascism. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/umberto-eco-ur-fascism I am using the numbering in the original text, leaving out the ones that don't apply as clearly.

1. Cult of tradition and 2. rejection of modernism: The "tradition" is the appeal to "strong, unified" rule by a military strongman and the rejected modernism is the more recent "decadence" and ineffectiveness of democratic systems and norms.

3. Action for action's sake: Yoon has stated this directly in one of his post-coup speeches, saying "I had to do something, anything" in the face of political gridlock and purported election fraud.

4. Disagreement is treason: He has railed against the DP and their purported obstruction, and has not-subtly implied that they are pro-North Korean enemies of state.

6. Appeal to a frustrated middle class: Claiming the DP is impoverishing Koreans with budget cuts.

7. Obsession with a plot: Seeing North Korean spies everywhere, claiming North Korea rigged elections.

8. Enemies are omnipotent enough to rig elections but weak enough to crush with military force.

9. Life is permanent warfare: This makes the military expression of frustration, rooted in traditionalism and anti-modernism seen above, the perfect outlet & rallying cry.

11. Everybody is educated to become a hero: There is an inversion here in that in the short term Yoon has trained his political opposition to be heroes, handing them some of the greatest opportunities of physical heroism achievable in peacetime with callbacks to Korea's other tradition of resistance and democratic urges.

Yet in the coming months and years of instability and uncertainty a social atmosphere of widespread heroism, action, and polarization could also lead to widespread unrest that could be exploited by fascistic and military elements. Yoon himself, after all, put that possibility back in play after half a century of dormancy.

12. Machismo: "[T]he Ur-Fascist hero tends to play with weapons — doing so becomes an ersatz phallic exercise."

13. Anti-parliamentary sentiment: A recurring theme of Yoon's speeches is that the opposition-dominated parliamentary body is the illegitimate, obstructionist enemy. Only the strong unitary leader represents the people.

14. Newspeak: The opposition are Communist spies and anti-state forces. Political disagreement is treason.

This is why the flood of ableism about Yoon's words and actions is not only repugnant but dangerous: He does not have a medical condition, he is a fascist who made a highly targeted appeal to his constituency. He has sown seeds that could grow in time, possibly much sooner than expected, into fascist sensibilities and full-blown takeover.

Again and again, it is very, very common for fascist leaders to be seen as incompetent reality-denying buffoons until they grow into an unstoppable force. It is also common for leaders of all political stripes to come back from seemingly unrecoverable defeat. Complacency is a losing game, and ableism aids complacency.

A note on Point 12, machismo, in the Korean context: Militarism and machismo are entwined in Korea as anywhere else, and supercharged here by mandatory service. It is one of the major grievances of young men in their 20s and 30s and an excuse for their widespread resentment and disdain of women. The military coup attempt is one with particular and pointed appeal to this base that Yoon targeted with misogynistic messaging, and the political activation of this generation of young men represents an explosive danger.

Again, I don't believe in political happy endings. Not because there is no happiness, but because there are no endings.

I've thought of other ways the defeat of the late coup could activate the latent fascism of young men in their 20s and 30s:

The identification of the military with Korean masculinity means that the defeat of martial law could be a farther perceived humiliation for young Korean men. They watched while armed soldiers such as they themselves were (or are), a symbol of their pride and resentment as men, were literally pushed around, berated, and ultimately routed by unarmed civilians including many women. Female National Assembly staffers were on the front lines of defensive scrums actually slapping the soldiers, yelling at them to snap out of it. This is proportionate and even laudable to most sensibilities, but many young men will see it as farther evidence of women's disdainful arrogance, while the martial law troops to them were good men doing their jobs mistreated by women who, in their world, are freeloading burdens on men.

In the coming months and years these stories will circulate and male resentment will coalesce around this event. Obviously it was Yoon who put the troops in this position, but because fascist sensibilities demand punching down and not up (Ur-Fascism No. 10), they will blame women instead.

Well that was unpleasant so I'm rewarding myself and you with a couple of lighter anecdotes. With just a dash of torture because this fucking country, i2sg.

First, food! The recent protests saw a surge of support in the form of food & beverages like prepayments at cafés and restaurants. A bread company even donated 10,000 pieces of bread to protesters. And when the Assembly voted in favor of impeachment two days ago, Speaker Woo Won-shik asked Koreans to put end-of-year events back on the schedule because small businesses were suffering. Fortunately, those reservations seem to be coming in again now that people can breathe easy.

Fashion: Speaking of the Speaker, the pale-green tie he wore to recent major votes like the repeal of martial law and both impeachment votes got a bit of news. You can see it in articles like this one: https://www.mk.co.kr/news/politics/11195172 It used to belong to Kim Geun-tae, the late activist and Assemblyman who suffered torture by the last military regime that left him disabled and in pain for life. The tie is old and faded, not the most fashionable item as someone innocently pointed out on social media. They apologized profusely when others pointed out its history, an excellent example of being so right and yet so wrong xD