The North Korean government is relishing in the political scandals of its southern neighbor as political disorder continues to grow following a failed attempt at imposing marshal law earlier this month.
Police attempted a raid on South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office Wednesday, but security personnel repelled the investigators and prevented a search of the premises.
Officers conducted successful raids on other government offices, including the National Police Agency and the National Assembly Police Guards.
Former Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun, who submitted his resignation last week following the martial law scandal, was arrested Tuesday in connection to the investigation.
Kim attempted suicide while in police detention, officials reported Wednesday. He survived and is in stable condition.
On Wednesday, North Korea’s state media arm, the Korean Central News Agency, reported on the “pandemonium” in South Korea, attributing the chaos to “a shocking event that puppet Yoon Suk Yeol in danger of impeachment abruptly proclaimed an emergency martial law for the fascist dictatorship against the people.”
The article featured a relatively straight-forward retelling of Yoon’s attempt to impose martial law on Dec. 6. The decree was overturned within just six hours after an emergency meeting of Parliament forced the president to abandon his action, which he said was intended to address political paralysis caused by rival parties he accused of being North Korean sympathizers.
Yoon never repeated those accusations, and no evidence has been offered connecting South Korean opposition lawmakers to North Korea.
The president faces widespread protests against his continued leadership and public calls for resignation but successfully dodged an impeachment vote after members of his People Power Party walked out of the National Assembly in protest.
The North Korean outlet’s article did feature editorializations, such as referring to South Korean police as “gangsters.”
“The international community is seriously watching the Republic of Korea, commentating that the emergency martial law and impeachment rackets reveal its vulnerability,” KCNA wrote.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
North Korea was silent until now about its greatest enemy’s unfolding turmoil — both its government offices and state-controlled media have refrained from even acknowledging the martial law scandal.
The North Korean leader’s regime no doubt sees the state of South Korean politics as a win for its internal propaganda — one of the few moments since the end of Korean War hostilities when the cloistered dictatorship has been more stable than its counterpart.
At the same time, a Korean head of state trying and failing to enforce autocratic control of his nation may be an uncomfortable narrative for the supreme leader’s family to digest.
