Han Kang, one of the renowned Korean writers, finally received the 2024 Nobel Prize in literature medal. Not only the writer herself but also all Koreans welcome and honor her. In her special lecture to commemorate the award, she shared some essential questions that left strong impressions on us.

Why is the world so violent and painful?

At the same time, why is the world so beautiful?

If nothing had happened, the story about the Nobel Prize would have been the top news in Korea for over a week. However, the reality was different. The so-called martial law crisis, now the mutiny incident by Yoon Suk Yeol, dominated the headlines. However, her message is coming impressively in Korea as well. The news about the mutiny that covered up the news about her dramatically shows the duality of human beings with both ugliness and beauty.

As the world knows, South Korea has faced political upheaval since Dec. 3, when President Yoon declared martial law. Although the constitutional order was briefly in a crisis, the process of resolving the chaos peacefully and orderly is underway, based on the solid Korean democratic system. The political upheaval reveals how shameless human beings are.

President Yoon, the leader of the rebellion, declared martial law and lifted it at the request of the National Assembly in 6 hours. In the brief address to announce the cancellation of martial law, he blamed the opposition party and demanded that they change their attitudes toward his rule. When impeachment was imminent, he showed up on TV for two minutes to apologize, saying he would hand over the authority to run the country to the ruling party. The idea is highly arbitrary and has no basis in the Constitution and laws. It shows that he believes that even when he is being ousted from the presidency, he can select which party would receive the authority to govern the nation and then be pardoned as soon as possible. His bizarre beliefs will remain an example of human foolishness and ugliness.

Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who helped President Yoon practically lead the mutiny, resigned after the failure was confirmed. Then, he said to his men that the situation was “the few are no match for the many.” What he said was used to encourage the soldiers who were defeated in a battle. Who is the enemy in the fight to him? Are the lawmakers who called for the lifting of illegal martial law? Or are the thousands of people gathered outside the National Assembly? I shudder at the fact that he served as the chief of the presidential security service and defense minister for a long time.

Minister of Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min resigned after the rebellion was subdued and showed how heartless human beings can be. On his resignation, he greeted the staff members, saying he had been happy with them for two and a half years. What happened during his tenure as minister? A crush accident in Itaewon killed 159 young people. Criticizing that the crush resulted from police not properly guarding the area, people demanded he be fired since the police were under his control. He resisted, and now he said he was happy. Doesn't he feel sad that 159 people were crushed to death? Is he not afraid of their souls who got killed unfairly? How cruel and heartless.

During political upheaval, we also see beautiful people. After the lifting of martial law, hundreds of thousands of people, probably a million, gathered around the National Assembly to demand the impeachment of the president. This protest was attended by many young people in their 20s and 30s, a surprising reversal considering that political apathy among young people has been profound in recent years. Those people at the protest site accurately urged the impeachment without causing any cases of accidents or violations of the order and turned the place into a festival. Foreign national tourists who watched the situation in person said that there was a suggestion that K-democracy could be a tourism program beyond K-pop. Although Yoon caused the short-lived coup, the future of Korean democracy is bright.

The soldiers who, under the direction of the President and the defense minister, carried out the operation of arresting politicians and neutralizing the National Assembly, were paradoxically the guardians of Korean democracy. They acted according to the dispatch order but remained passive and did not prevent the National Assembly from deciding to lift martial law. The soldiers attempted to enter the National Assembly building but intentionally delayed the mission, using 30 minutes to break a single window. The police blocked the entrance to the National Assembly by order, but they did not stop opposition lawmakers from climbing over the fence and entering the National Assembly area. The reckless presidential martial law order did not lead to a bigger crisis, which could have led to bloodshed, thanks to the brave people, wise soldiers and clever police.

How has Korea had so many beautiful people? We need to talk about the spirit of democratic martyrs who were unfairly killed in the 1980 incident, otherwise known as the Seoul Spring period. Their short lives in this world were ended while resisting the unjustified violence of state power, and defying suffocating fear in Gwangju. Their blood established democracy in Korea. Han Kang said in her special lecture that she came to pay attention to the situation where the dead save the living rather than the living save the dead. This time, the dead are saving us, allowing us to join in the massive protest without fear of being shot.

Regrettably, we cannot fully congratulate Han due to the aftermath of the aborted coup, but her journey for love should be appreciated. It would be nice to hold a refined celebration after we finish responding to this absurd rebellion. It would also be nice to talk about how the living express gratitude to the dead.

Wang Son-taek

Wang Son-taek is an adjunct professor at Sogang University. He is a former diplomatic correspondent at YTN and a former research associate at Yeosijae. The views expressed here are the writer’s own. -- Ed.