Yoon Suk Yeol: Who is South Korea’s ‘lame duck’ president, described as their version of Donald Trump

Not long after becoming president of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol emerged as an unpopular and divisive figure. He has been described as the “South Korean Donald Trump” and his policies “K-Trumpism” — allegations he and his supporters deny.

On Tuesday night, local time, President Yoon added to his list of controversies by declaring martial law — the first declaration of this kind since 1980 — sparking fierce protests into the evening. Parliament voted to immediately lift the declaration and, under the constitution, the president must comply.

Mr Yoon won the presidency in 2022 by a slim margin of less than half the vote, promising a more confrontational, hard-line approach to North Korea. The election result was considered more of a condemnation of his progressive predecessor than an enthusiastic swing in his favour.

Before entering office, the 63-year-old had worked as a prosecutor for 26 years. In 2019 he was appointed South Korea’s prosecutor general of the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office under his presidential predecessor Moon Jae-in.

Mr Yoon’s clashes and investigations into the Moon administration led to his rise as a presidential candidate among conservative voters. He resigned as prosecutor general in 2021 and joined the right-wing People Power Party, becoming their official presidential nominee that year.

As a candidate, his platform promised economic deregulation and measures such as abolishing the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family — he has continued to align himself with anti-feminist sentiment in office, claiming there was no structural sexism and blaming feminism for falling birth rates.

He also advocated for a 120-hour work week — later, when elected, he attempted to raise the maximum weekly working week from 52 to 69 hours — and deregulate food safety standards.

However, since winning the presidency, Mr Yoon has been in an almost constant political stand-off with his opposition, which controls Parliament, and his approval rating has fallen sharply.

In 2024, his party lost the parliament in a landslide result, which has rendered Mr Yoon a “lame duck” of sorts, struggling to implement his conservative agenda.

Nonetheless, critics have alleged that under Mr Yoon, South Korea has experienced democratic backsliding and the resurgence of authoritarianism.

He has been condemned for sanctioning media outlets and journalists (including raiding their homes) for being critical of his government, while those aligned with the Yoon administration have allegedly received preferential treatment.

The president has also been accused of abusing his right to veto bills and using police to suppress anti-government protests.

He will only serve one five-year term and, under South Korean law, presidents cannot run for re-election.

On December 3, Mr Yoon declared martial law in South Korea. It was the first time such a declaration had been made since the military dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan in 1980.

South Korea’s constitution allows a president to claim martial law “when it is required to cope with a military necessity or to maintain the public safety and order by mobilisation of the military forces in time of war, armed conflict or similar national emergency.”

Hours later later parliament passed a motion nullifying the law, which Mr Yoon was forced to follow.