South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on Wednesday praised the citizens who confronted martial law troops a year ago, saying their collective defence of democracy made them worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Speaking at a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the attempt by impeached president Yoon Suk-yeol to impose military rule, Lee described the incident as an unprecedented test of South Korea’s democracy that the public overcame peacefully.
“I am convinced that we, the people of the Republic of Korea, who have overcome an unprecedented crisis of democracy in a peaceful manner, are fully deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize,” Lee said.
“If the Korean people were to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for saving democracy, it would serve as a major turning point for all nations shaken by conflict and division.”
Lee recalled how hundreds of ordinary citizens had rushed to the National Assembly after Yoon’s martial law declaration, forming barricades to block armoured vehicles and helping lawmakers scale the legislature’s fences.
