"Stop the Steal": The chant popularized by US president-elect Donald Trump and his supporters to challenge the outcome of the 2020 presidential election is being revived in South Korea. It appears on signs in English brandished at rallies orchestrated to defend another conservative president, Yoon Suk Yeol, under threat of prosecution for having declared martial law on December 3, 2024. He is the most visible manifestation of Trumpist influence in the ongoing political crisis. Because of ideological and even religious proximity, the Trump touch irrigates the speeches of the pro-Yoon, as well as the pleadings of the leader accused of insurrection.

Trump's influence was felt on Saturday, January 11, at the large rally planned in Gwanghwamun in the heart of Seoul, by the Daegukbon Movement of Korean Citizens for National Restoration (DKB). Held every week since the vote to impeach the president on December 14, 2024, the conservative movement is led by Pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon, founder of the Sarangseil Presbyterian Church. The charismatic cleric attacks "the anti-state forces led by Lee Jae-myung [leader of the opposition Democratic Party], who are doing everything illegal, including implementing an arrest warrant for the president. This must be stopped at all costs."

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