Pyongyang’s state media reported on Seoul’s Dec. 3 martial law declaration and the subsequent impeachment crisis against President Yoon Suk Yeol for the first time on Wednesday, eight days after the event.
The delayed coverage appears to justify Pyongyang’s anti-South Korea policies and to instill a negative perception of South Korea among North Korean citizens, according to experts.
The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Korea’s ruling party, devoted over 80 percent of its page six international news section to detailing South Korea’s political unrest. The report included 21 images of impeachment protests against Yoon.
Yet the paper, which targets a domestic audience, omitted photos of South Korean civilians and parliamentary staff clashing with martial law troops on the day of the declaration.
![North Korea's state-run Rodong Sinmun reports on South Korea's Dec. 3 martial law declaration for the first time on Wednesday, eight days after the event, featuring several photos of protests demanding President Yoon Suk Yeol's resignation. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2024/12/11/75ad66da-461f-4e80-80ac-5fb10d8fa234.jpg)
“The puppet Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on the night of Dec. 3 to escape the worst crisis of his administration, deploying fully armed troops, along with helicopters and members of the Army Special Warfare Command, to blockade the National Assembly,” the report read. “This shocking act of fascist dictatorship turned the puppet South Korea into chaos.”
It also labeled the martial law crisis as “social upheaval.”
The paper added that an emergency session of the National Assembly passed a resolution to lift martial law within six hours of its declaration.
It also reported that an impeachment motion against Yoon on Dec. 7 was automatically dismissed due to an insufficient quorum after most ruling party lawmakers abstained from voting.
“News of the dismissal turned areas around the puppet National Assembly, and the entire country, into mass protest grounds,” the report said. “A million demonstrators surrounded the Assembly building in a ‘siege march.'”
It also spotlighted the widespread protests in major cities like Seoul, Incheon and Daegu, where demonstrators called for Yoon’s resignation.
The coverage claimed that the international community views the crisis in “puppet” South Korea as “exposing its societal vulnerabilities” and Yoon’s potential “early political downfall.”
Experts suggest North Korea is leveraging the situation to further its propaganda.
“Yoon’s potential impeachment and potential downfall could be framed as a political victory for Kim Jong-un’s regime,” said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies. “The chaos in South Korea could be used to underscore the stability of North Korea’s socialist system … and justifies its labeling of ‘two hostile states’ and policies of severing ties with the South.”
The coverage, while extensive, may have unintended consequences. Lim noted that images of large-scale protests, symbolizing “people power,” could significantly influence some North Koreans despite the regime’s attempts to suppress resonance sentiments.
Since the Dec. 3 incident, North Korean media has refrained from reporting on Korea until now. Analysts believe Pyongyang was evaluating the crisis’ implications for its domestic and foreign policies.
Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies, said North Korea will likely continue observing developments in South Korea.
“I expect Pyongyang to refrain from provocations like missile launches or waste-carried balloon campaigns for the time being,” Yang said, adding that North Korea may focus on domestic issues, including end-of-year achievements, preparations for its key parliamentary session and the evolving military alliance with Russia.
BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]
