Can strikes shift the president?

South Korea has seen a week of continued uncertainty, as impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol continues to evade arrest.

On 13 January, it was revealed that the president was claiming his scheduled pay rise even as he has refused to leave his house since a speech on 11 December. The pay rise of 3% is higher than the simultaneous 1.7% rise in the minimum wage – an irony that protestors have noted, during a period where the president is conducting no business whatsoever.

Last week’s failed attempt to arrest Yoon is likely to be attempted again once the warrant has made it through a number of stages of red tape. There are two separate cases in motion: one in constitutional court which could have him officially removed from office, another an investigation into the charge of “insurrection”. The first, failed arrest attempt was meant to take him to court for questioning in the latter case.

Perhaps more interesting than the man himself is the continuing series of near-daily protests in Seoul and elsewhere. These are not solely people who want Yoon out – as reported in Solidarity 729, the Korean right have been mobilising in defence of the president, painting the impeachment as the liberal establishment “stealing” the presidency. An article by Workers’ Solidarity, sister organisation to the British Socialist Workers Party, accuses acting president Choi Sang Mok of deliberately avoiding open conflict with Yoon, or encouraging officials to make an arrest, because doing so would exacerbate street protests and unrest.

They call for a general strike, citing the importance of the July-August 1987 general strike in ending the military rule of Chun Doo Hwan.

“If the KCTU [Korea’s more militant trade union confederation] declares a general strike now and the strike actually takes place, the protests to oust Yoon Suk Yeol can take a significant step forward.” Information has been hard to locate, but this suggests that the general strike declared by the KCTU on the day of Yoon’s attempted insurrection was not, in fact, carried out to any great effect. The KCTU has 1.13 million members, barely smaller than the 1.15 million in the “company union” federation, the FKTU, and much smaller than Korea’s population of 51 million.

Yoon cited the strength of the labour movement as one of the main reasons for his coup attempt at the start of December. Whatever the outcome of his (undeniably engrossing) court drama and attempted arrests, solidarity with Korean workers in organising against increasing government repression will have to be central to the response of the international left.