North Korea Finally Addresses South Korea Martial Law Drama: ‘Shocking’ Contributor/Getty Images

North Korean state media mentioned South Korea’s martial law drama from December 3 for the first time on Wednesday, describing the actions of President Yoon Suk-yeol as “shocking.”

The report denounced Yoon as a “fascist dictator” and South Korean soldiers who followed his commands as “gangsters.”

Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) contemptuously described Yoon’s government as a “puppet regime,” presumably meaning a puppet of the United States.

The North Korean agency blasted Yoon for “suddenly declaring a martial law decree and unhesitatingly wielding the guns and knives of its fascist dictatorship wrought havoc across South Korea.”

“Yoon Suk-yeol, who was faced with the possibility of being kicked out, committed an insane act that was reminiscent of the coup during the military dictatorship several decades ago and that drew strong condemnation from all walks of life, including the opposition party and further ignited the public anger demanding impeachment,” the report said.

“Several helicopters and fully armed martial law forces, including the gangster organization, the Army Special Warfare Command, were deployed to seal off the National Assembly,” the report said.

“The international community is sternly watching, with assessments that the martial law incident exposed vulnerabilities in South Korean society – and that Yoon Suk Yeol’s political life could face an early end,” KCNA concluded.

Watchdog site NK News noted that North Korea waited an exceptionally long time to weigh in on the martial law disaster, compared to its general enthusiasm for harping on any news that could make South Korea’s government look weak or corrupt. KCNA was pumping out a steady stream of critical coverage of Yoon before the martial law attempt, but stopped mentioning him at all for a week afterward.

Jonathan Corrado, policy director at the Korea Society nonprofit in New York, told Radio Free Asia (RFA) the North Koreans might have been wary of covering the martial law story too quickly or closely, because even “bad” news about South Korea gives North Korea’s captive citizens a good look at someplace they would much rather be living.

Corrado recalled North Korea’s gleeful coverage of South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s downfall on corruption charges in 2016 and 2017, which “revealed the extent of South Korea’s urban modernization” to the residents of North Korea’s drab cities, and “showed the North Korean public the extent of South Korea’s civil society and democracy.”

North Korean defector Lee Hyun-seung, who now works as a strategist for the Global Peace Foundation in Maryland, suggested North Korea was keeping fairly quiet about the biggest South Korean political crisis in 40 years because the North Koreans are worried about accidentally changing the narrative.

“North Korea believes that President Yoon will be impeached,” Lee said. “They are staying silent because they believe that if they step forward, they could provide an excuse for conservatives to oppose impeachment.”

Lee also thought the North Koreans might be reluctant to draw attention to themselves because they have “organizations that operate to influence South Korea,” and they want those organizations to operate without too much scrutiny in South Korea’s moment of crisis.

The UK Guardian chortled at the “irony” of North Korea – which really is ruled by a fascist dictator – hectoring Yoon for allegedly unleashing “dictatorship on the people” of South Korea. KCNA also fawned over protests against Yoon in Seoul, of the sort that would never be permitted against Pyongyang’s dictator Kim Jong-un.

“Leaders in Russia, China, and especially North Korea are likely watching the political turmoil in South Korea with glee, sensing a geopolitical advantage,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Seoul’s Ewha University, told the Guardian.

“Authoritarian regimes believe that if they manage to stay in power, they can outlast democratic rivals that eventually commit self-harm, descend into dysfunction, and fall out with allies,” Easley said.

One other consideration is North Korea’s decision to get involved in the Ukraine war on Russia’s behalf. With thousands of troops on the ground in Russia, fighting against Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk province, Pyongyang might prefer not to stir up too much trouble with its southern neighbor for a while. 

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