KARACHI, Pakistan
Hundreds of South Korean writers, including Nobel laureate Han Kang, demanded Tuesday the removal of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol for his failed martial law attempt, according to Seoul-based Yonhap News.
The Writers Association of Korea, a prominent literary group, issued “one-line statements” from 414 authors, each calling for Yoon’s dismissal from office.
Yoon was impeached by parliament Dec. 3 following his attempt to impose martial law. The country’s Constitutional Court is expected to soon deliver its final ruling on the impeachment.
“I believe in the values of life, liberty, and peace that must not be harmed. (Yoon’s) ouster is something that can preserve universal values,” said Han, the first South Korean to win the Nobel Prize in literature.
Han received her Nobel Prize in December, days after Yoon declared martial law, plunging South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades.
Novelist Eun Hee-kyung stated: “I want to live in a democratic society.”
Chung Bora, author of “Cursed Bunny,” called for “the punishment of the ringleader of insurrection and the construction of an egalitarian society.”
“Rage with any of your friends who can bear it,” said literary critic Shin Hyoung-cheol, quoting a line from Sophocles’ “Antigone,” an ancient Greek tragedy.
In a separate development, acting President Han Duck-soo urged the nation to respect the Constitutional Court’s verdict on Yoon’s impeachment, regardless of the outcome.
Han, who was reinstated Sunday by the Constitutional Court, made the appeal Tuesday during a meeting with public safety ministers and officials.
While a date for the court’s decision has yet to be announced, it is expected to rule soon on whether to uphold or dismiss Yoon’s impeachment for his brief martial law in December.
“Regardless of the outcome of the Constitutional Court’s decision, it must be respected as a legal judgment made in line with democratic procedures,” said Han.
