South Korea's New Rogue Ally Status Comes With Different Ideology

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On June 10 of this year, courts once again postponed multiple trials involving Lee Jae-myung, including cases tied to the Daejang-dong scandal and election law violations.

Though the court cited constitutional grounds, critics see it as further proof of a judiciary increasingly aligned with political power.

Lee hints at behind-the-scenes contact with Supreme Court

On June 2, during a YouTube appearance, Lee Jae-myung suggested there had been unofficial communication with the Supreme Court.

“This might be considered a kind of exclusive, but while I'm not directly contacted by the Supreme Court, there is communication. In a world where people live, it's impossible for there to be no contact,” he explained.

“From what I heard, the position was to quickly and cleanly wrap up the election law violation case.”

He added,“But then, one day, it suddenly changed.”

An open attack on separation of powers

On May 2, Park Jin-young, former deputy of Lee's think tank, said the judiciary should be elected – or perhaps abolished altogether.

His remarks came in response to a Supreme Court decision unfavorable to Lee, revealing a growing hostility within the ruling bloc toward judicial independence.

Laying groundwork for permanent rule

On May 25, Lee floated constitutional changes allowing presidential re-election – even for the sitting president – saying:

“The constitution states that it does not apply to the sitting president, but it can be theoretically debated whether past citizens can restrict the will of present citizens.”

Attempt to dissolve opposition party

Also on June 10, Lee's ruling party pushed an“Insurrection Special Counsel Bill” that could criminalize the opposition PPP and justify its dissolution.

This time is different

South Korea has seen leftists holding both the presidency and a National Assembly majority. But there is a fundamental difference between Lee and his predecessors.

Previous leftist governments operated within South Korea's liberal democratic framework, even as they pursued their own agendas.

Lee Jae-myung's camp, however, is pursuing something else entirely: subverting the very foundations of the Korean liberal democratic political system.

This crisis is no longer theoretical – and public anxiety is growing. A well-established couple I know, highly respected in Korean society, are sending their children to Malaysia and planning to emigrate themselves. Just a few years ago, such a decision would have been unthinkable. Today, it feels like an act of survival.

External pressure and internal decay

At the same time, China's influence over South Korea has grown steadily – often invisibly, but effectively. Behind the scenes, Beijing has quietly helped Lee's rise by shaping narratives, manipulating institutions and expanding its soft power reach.

The US, meanwhile, is overstretched. With its attention divided among Ukraine, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific, it lacks the capacity – and perhaps the will – to check South Korea's internal unraveling.

A personal reckoning

An American friend recently asked me if I could think of a solution. I said no.

Back in 2016, I saw the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye not merely as a political crisis but as the opening salvo in an assault on South Korea's democratic identity – an attack orchestrated by forces aligned with Beijing and Pyongyang. To me, it marked the beginning of a second Korean War.

Even then, I knew South Korea's conservative party was in free fall. I joined efforts to build a new party but it made no difference. The public continued to support the dominant conservative party, no matter how dysfunctional it had become.

Currently, I see no viable political path forward. What's preventing South Korea from falling into Beijing's orbit is no longer internal resilience – it's the US and the international community.

As mentioned earlier, one key reason the US maintains a military presence abroad is to exert influence – and South Korea is no exception.

That's why it's a striking irony that, as a conservative who deeply values national sovereignty, I now find reassurance in that very presence.