Why did Pres. Yoon create a unity committee?

“I’m furious at the president.”

This was the reaction of a senior official on South Korea’s Presidential Committee for National Unity, speaking to a reporter in December after the National Assembly passed an impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol. The official’s frustration stemmed from Yoon’s shock decision to declare emergency martial law on December 3, the growing political chaos, and the deepening societal divisions.

On March 27, Kim Han-gil, the chair of the National Unity Committee, addressed a forum on narrowing the gap between small and large businesses. “As the voices in the square grow louder, so does the call for national unity,” he said. “We, who carry the banner of the National Unity Committee, are now seriously reflecting on what role we can play in these times.” Kim’s comments suggest the committee is reviewing how it can foster unity following Yoon’s declaration of emergency powers. Yet, any such effort seems hollow while the president is seen as driving a wedge between supporters and opponents over the impeachment.

On March 10, 2022, a day after winning the presidential election, Yoon said in his victory speech that the people had chosen him because they wanted “an end to divisive politics and a new era of unity.” To underscore this pledge, he established the National Unity Committee as his first presidential advisory body, appointing Kim, widely regarded as his mentor, as its chair. During his first year in office, Yoon attended the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement memorial ceremony, proclaiming, “All citizens of the Republic of Korea are Gwangju citizens.”

But since then, Yoon appears to have abandoned that spirit of unity. In his Liberation Day speech in August 2023, he warned of “anti-state forces who blindly follow communist totalitarianism, manipulate public opinion through agitation, and destabilize society.” It was the first time he had used the term “anti-state forces.” One year later, divisions deepened when the Korea Liberation Association boycotted the government’s Liberation Day ceremony in protest of the appointment of the director of the Independence Hall, leading to two separate commemorations—a first in history.

The division among the public following Yoon’s declaration of martial law is now plain to see. Tensions are peaking, and Yoon’s behavior increasingly resembles “us versus them” politics. On March 8, when a court revoked his arrest warrant, Yoon offered no message to the public. Instead, he thanked his supporters who had rallied against impeachment. On March 25, he phoned a supporter on a hunger strike for 28 days in front of the Constitutional Court, urging them to stop fasting: “You must stay healthy to help restore this country.” Yet he has remained silent toward opposition figures like former South Gyeongsang Governor Kim Kyung-soo, who was hospitalized after his hunger strike, as well as toward the crowds demanding his removal from office.

Yoon’s rhetoric has fueled political polarization. One ruling party lawmaker declared the Constitutional Court should be “burned down” if it rules in favor of impeachment. An opposition lawmaker posed for photos in front of a mock guillotine labeled “Decapitate Yoon Suk Yeol,” whipping up mob sentiment. Political agitation is rampant, and physical clashes—like the recent forced entry into the Seoul Western District Court—are on the rise. As the Constitutional Court’s ruling on the impeachment nears, there are growing concerns it could trigger an unprecedented wave of violence.

A true leader’s job is to guide citizens back from protest squares to their daily lives, to heal divisions, and to bring people together. One hopes that even now, President Yoon will return to the promise he made on the day after his election: to practice the politics of unity.