By Hyunsu Yim, Eduardo Baptista and Minwoo Park
SEOUL (Reuters) – Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol are adopting “Stop the Steal” slogans popularised by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump supporters and said they hoped the incoming president would help their embattled leader.
As Yoon supporters gathered outside his residence in the pre-dawn hours of Friday in an effort to prevent his arrest, some carried signs in English saying “Stop the Steal”, a slogan Trump supporters used to question the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, which he lost.
Yoon avoided arrest on Friday after presidential guards and troops blocked efforts to carry out a warrant in a criminal insurrection 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 ties between his campaign and Yoon’s backers.
But searches for the hashtag #StopTheSteal or “election fraud” in Korean on social media platform X show recent posts uploaded from Koreans featuring memes whose design appears to have been inspired by Trump’s “Make America Great Again” sign.
Yoon’s defence of his actions has also had similarities to Trump’s political rhetoric with him citing possible voting irregularities and defending the country from enemies within and without.
While Yoon made no mention of election issues in his initial martial law declaration, he dispatched hundreds of troops to raid the National Election Commission (NEC) and later alleged North Korea had hacked the NEC, but cited no evidence.
He said the attack was detected by the National Intelligence Service but the commission, an independent agency, refused to cooperate fully in an investigation and inspection of its system.
The hack cast doubt on the integrity of the April 2024 parliamentary election – which his party lost by a landslide – and led him to declare martial law, he said.
At the time the commission said by raising the suspicion of election irregularities, Yoon was committing a “self-defeating act against an election oversight system that elected himself as president”.
The NEC said it had consulted the spy agency last year to address “security vulnerabilities” but there were no signs a hack by North Korea compromised the election system, and that votes are conducted with paper ballots.
The issue has become a major talking point for Yoon supporters who say his martial law declaration 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 both Americans and Koreans.
Pyeong In-su, 71, holding a flag of the United States and South Korea with the words “Let’s go together” in English and Korean, said he was banking on Trump’s return to save Yoon.
“I hope that Trump will take office soon and raise his voice against the rigged elections in our country plus around the world so as to help President Yoon to return (to power) swiftly,” Pyeong said.
Seo Hye-kyoung who was holding a “Stop the Steal” sign with the Chinese flag claimed that “Chinese people have come to our country and stole our votes”.
When asked about the NEC’s public denial of election fraud, Seo said she trusts Yoon. “The president is not someone who would say something wrong,” she said.
Hundreds of pro-Yoon protesters surrounded the presidential compound, some stayed out overnight in sub-zero temperatures, hoping to head off the arrest attempt.
“Invalid impeachment,” the protesters chanted with some sporting the American flag which is often found at protests by conservatives in the country.
Trump has been impeached twice, but acquitted.
(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim, Eduardo Baptista and Minwoo Park in Seoul; Editng by Josh Smith and Michael Perry)
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