In the full-body red attire worn by Mr. Kim, a vest with a pin of the South Korean flag stands out next to another of the American flag. Also, a cap with the phrase in English "Stop the steal", which evokes the Trumpist slogans during the Capitol assault on January 6, 2021, to try to prevent the US Congress from certifying Joe Biden's electoral victory. Next to Mr. Kim is another Kim accompanied by his wife, also with the last name Kim. These last two wear another red cap with the phrase "Make Korea Great Again".
The three Kims are in Seoul, in an alley under the headquarters of the People Power Party (PPP), the country's main conservative party. They are in the front row, enthusiastically following the presidential election results on a giant screen. Behind them is a sea of empty chairs. It is early Wednesday morning, and almost all the followers and lawmakers who had gathered there have already gone to sleep. There is nothing to celebrate despite the feigned excitement and enthusiastic shouts of the Kims every time their party wins in a constituency.
The opposite scene is happening just a couple of streets from the PPP headquarters, at the end of Yeouido Park, where thousands of people cheer for the election winner, the progressive Lee Jae-myung, from the Democratic Party (DP). Six months ago, many of the same supporters who are now celebrating Lee's victory were exactly in the same place, very close to the entrance of the National Assembly, to defend South Korea's democracy against the martial law decreed by former president Yoon Suk Yeol, who now faces a conviction for insurrection.
Yoon unleashed a string of conspiracy theories (anti-state forces linked to North Korea and Chinese spies wanting to kidnap South Korean democracy) to justify his failed attempt to take full control of a legislature dominated by the opposition. But many South Koreans believed all those theories, just like the radicals who stormed the US Capitol accepted Donald Trump's claims of electoral fraud.
The three lonely Kims at the PPP headquarters comment that they are not surprised that there was fraud in these South Korean elections because it is impossible that people voted for the communists. "Now we are going to become a dictatorship like North Korea but ruled by the Chinese Communist Party, which is the one controlling Lee like a puppet," says the Kim with the Stop the steal cap, which was made in China.
The far-right in South Korea embraced the manual and aesthetics of President Trump's MAGA movement long ago. During the last months of political turmoil in the Asian country, this noisy ultranationalist wave has taken to the streets to support former leader Yoon, formally ousted in April by the Constitutional Court, which validated the impeachment approved by Parliament. On the day of his ousting, when Yoon left the presidential residence, cameras captured the image of his supporters putting a red cap with Make America Great Again on him.
"While American flags have been a constant element in South Korean conservative rallies as symbols of the Cold War alliance and trust in US military protection, the adoption of the MAGA image is new and reflects the belief that, like Trump, Yoon was ousted by progressive elites on illegitimate pretexts," explains Joseph Yi, a political scientist at Hanyang University in Seoul. For the South Korean far-right, experts point out, the stars and stripes symbolize a strong alliance and idolatry towards the US as the guardian of their democracy.
Almost all protests in favor of Yoon have one thing in common: they are led by controversial Youtubers and evangelical pastors who preach the idea that adopting the MAGA style is necessary to "save South Korea" from communist forces. This is the message used by Reverend Jeon Kwang-hoon, from the Sarang Jeil Church, to mobilize his followers. Similar proclamations have also come from preachers linked to the controversial Shincheonji Church of Jesus, founded almost four decades ago by South Korean pastor Lee Man-Hee, who, presenting himself as the (false) prophet of the Book of Revelation, claims that his heavenly mission is to take 144,000 people to heaven on the day of judgment.
Not far from the PPP headquarters is one of the largest churches in the world, the Yoido Full Gospel Church, where over 550,000 people attend liturgical services every week. The founder of this church, Cho Yong-gi, was a prominent figure in the explosion of Christianity after the Korean War, a religion now embraced by around 28% of the population. Although Cho's legacy, who passed away in 2021, was tarnished by several embezzlement scandals.
"Many Yoido parishioners are the ones who later go to protests with American flags and even dressed as Captain America. A lot of money also comes from these churches to finance the conservative party, but also the liberals, because there are many links between political parties and evangelical Protestantism, which arrived in the 19th century with American missionaries," explains Lee Hyun, a researcher at the Center for Religious Studies at the University of Seoul.
"Korea is a country with a very strong passion, and the religious world is very intertwined with the social. Korean Protestantism is very particular, and there are many branches of churches (around 55,000 Protestant organizations). Those pastors who are closely linked to conservative parties are very fundamentalist and actively live their political commitment," says Spanish nun Ester Palma, who has been a missionary in the South Korean city of Daejeon for almost two decades. "During the military dictatorship, the church took to the streets to defend human rights and helped drive the democratic movement. But after the coup in December, many Protestants supported President Yoon. In this country, faith is lived in a very public sphere, for better or for worse."
On Wednesday, in his inaugural speech as the new president, Lee Jae-myung promised to unite a divided nation, emphasizing that the position carries the responsibility to serve all citizens, regardless of whom they supported at the polls. "It is time to build bridges of coexistence, reconciliation, and solidarity that overcome the hatred and confrontation that have divided us," he said. It will not be an easy task to convince the radicals infected by the Trumpist spirit that South Korea will not end up as a communist regime.