Page 35 - Election Book-ENG

Introduction: What’s at Stake

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On December 4 2024, President Yoon Sukyeol, then President
of the Republic of South Korea (ROK), declared martial law. It
seemed to come out of nowhere and took many by surprise—
except those who have been following what’s happening to the
Korean electoral system.

As a result of years of unusual election results and a lack of
transparency about the mechanics of the electoral system itself,
there has been persistent degradation of trust in free and fair
elections in the country. !ose trying to investigate are targeted.
The judiciary won’t preside over cases. Governance has become
di"cult. !e result is a country on the edge, with malign actors
gaining influence-including North Korea (DPRK) and the
People’s Republic of China (PRC). What’s going on in Korea can
happen in any democratic country where elections are not secure.

An electoral system in a free country needs to be carefully
watched and tended. Failure to do so will eventually shake the
underpinnings of even the strongest nations-even those with
seemingly solid democratic institutions, processes and traditions.

Once public trust in the democratic process for transferring
power and selecting and changing a government-i.e. the electoral
process-erodes, so does the cohesion of the nation itself. This
disintegration is even worse when a political group subverts the
electoral process in order to gain political power for itself.

This dynamic has played out over the last seven years in the
Republic of Korea.

Challenges Facing the South Korean Electoral System - 2024 35