President Yoon Suk Yeol is suspected of

< Why do conservatives fall?>

President Yoon Suk Yeol is suspected of "insurrection." The emergency martial law requirements were not met, the Cabinet did not deliberate, and the National Assembly did not give notice.

Crucially, it tried to neutralize the 'National Assembly' that was outside the control of martial law. Article 77 of the Constitution violated both the provisions of martial law and the provisions of the crime of rebellion in the criminal law.

According to media reports, Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and former intelligence officer Roh Sang-won reportedly considered "origin strikes" and "pyongyang strikes" against North Korea's filth balloons.

It is suspected that he was "trying to induce" the war to attack the opposition party and create an atmosphere of martial law.

◆ People's power response after the martial law is more surprising

The mission of public officials, including the president and the defense minister, is to protect the property and lives of the people.

However, they intentionally waged a war to expose people's wealth and lives to threats. To make a cause for emergency martial law. The truth must be revealed later, but it is truly shocking.

Rather, what I don't understand is the strong response of the people after the martial law. None of the pro-Yoon (pro-Yoon Seok-yeol) lawmakers participated in the decision to lift martial law at 1 a.m. on Dec. 4.

Members of the People's Power boycotted the meeting on the 7th when the impeachment motion of Yoon Suk Yeol's president was submitted to the plenary session.

On the 14th, he set "opposition to impeachment" as his party's theory, and when the impeachment motion was passed, he claimed to be a traitor to the lawmakers who approved it and pressed them to be expelled and leave the party.

Using lawmaker Cho Kyung-tae's expression, the public has come to doubt that the power of the people is the "power of civil war" or the "martial martial law advocacy party." Since then, various indicators have consistently pointed to the "fall of conservatives."

► First, it is falling from the party's approval rating. The party's approval rating announced by Gallup Korea on the 20th was 48% of the Democratic Party of Korea and 24% of the people's power.

Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province had 27 percent of the Democratic Party and 33 percent of the people's power, but Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province had reversed course. The Democratic Party had 38 percent of the people's power and 36 percent of the people's power.

It is the first time in the Yoon Seok-yeol administration that the Democratic Party has outperformed the party's approval rating in Boolean Gyeong. In the case of the moderate group, the Democratic Party of Korea was 46 percent and the people's power was 13 percent.

► Second, the power of the people in the position of impeaching President Yoon is "self-inflicted." According to the Gallup Korea survey conducted in the second week of December, 75 percent of the respondents approved of impeachment and 21 percent disapproved.

In Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, 62 percent of the respondents were in favor, not to mention in the Seoul metropolitan area. 33 percent were in opposition. 66 percent in favor of and 30 percent against it in Boulgyeong. 83% of those who identified themselves as "moderate" ideologically were in favor of and 14% against it.

► Third, the power of the people is causing isolation even in generations. In the Gallup Korea survey conducted in the third week of December, the approval rating of political parties was 48 percent for the Democratic Party and 24 percent for the People's Power.

The Democratic Party exceeded 50 percent among those in their 30s and 50s. For those in their 60s, the Democratic Party accounted for 43 percent and the People's Power 31 percent. For those in their 70s and older, the Democratic Party accounted for 33 percent and the People's Power 51 percent.

The proportion of Korean voters is about 30 percent for those in their 20s and 30s, 38 percent for those in their 40s and 50s, and 32 percent for those in their 60s and 80s. The power of the people is shrinking to a party that has the upper hand only in the 70s and 80s even among the elderly.

► Fourth, the fall of conservatives is also evident in the approval rating of presidential candidates. According to Gallup Korea in the second week of December, 37 percent of the candidates were Lee Jae-myung.

The approval ratings of the six candidates, including Han Dong-hoon (five percent), Kim Hong Joon Pyo (five percent), Oh Se-hoon (two percent), Kim Moon-soo (two percent), Kim Yoo Seung Min (two percent) and Kim Ahn Cheol Soo (one percent), are only 17 percent. The approval rating is less than half of that of the main opposition Minjoo Party Chairman Lee Jae-myung.

◆ "Conservative for impeachment" needs to be the mainstream of conservatism

Why is conservatism falling? It is because he built his own image as a martial law advocate and opposed the impeachment of President Yoon. President Yoon undermined the value of the Korea-U.S. alliance and put the Korean economy into crisis.

The U.S. State Department said on Thursday that it expects to be dealt with in accordance with the Korean Constitution and will continue to support the rule of law and democracy in Korea. In fact, the remarks support impeachment.

Since the impeachment of President Park Geun Hye in 2017, political parties affiliated with the People's Power have been losing consecutive games, and have set the stage for a rebound since the April 7 by-elections in 2021.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Busan Mayor Park Hyung-joon, party leader Lee Joon-seok, and Yoon Suk Yeol's presidential candidate. As of that time, their common points were "conservatives who voted for impeachment."

It lost consecutive games when the conservatives who opposed impeachment were at the center, and won when the conservatives who supported impeachment came to the fore. The power of the people is going to the "anti-impeachment party." This is why the fall of the conservative party is expected to be deeper and longer.

/ Kookmin Ilbo, Director of the New Growth Economic Research Institute Choi Byung-cheon