Participants holding light sticks call for the passage of an impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol outside the National Assembly in Seoul in this Dec. 11, 2024, file photo. Korea Times file
In a rare tribute to civil resistance, the Korean citizens who mobilized to thwart former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s emergency martial law decree have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize — a gesture scholars describe as a definitive recognition of the nation’s democratic resilience.
A group of political scientists — including current and former leaders of the International Political Science Association — nominated the “citizens of the Republic of Korea,” described as a “citizen collective,” for the Nobel Peace Prize last month, citing their peaceful resistance during the 2024 martial law crisis, when a brief but sweeping emergency decree upended civilian governance and prompted nationwide protests before being lifted.
According to Kim Eui-young, a political science professor at Seoul National University who coordinated the IPSA World Congress in Seoul last July, the nominators described citizens’ protests against the martial law declaration as a “Revolution of Light,” invoking the largely peaceful candlelit protests that mobilized across the country.
The phrase was rooted in scenes of ordinary Koreans pouring into the streets in subzero weather, raising light sticks and cellphone flashlights as they ringed major government buildings and bolstered lawmakers’ efforts to reassert constitutional rule — vast but peaceful gatherings that passed without bloodshed despite the upheaval.
In a document submitted to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Kim traced the events that led to the crisis, detailed the six-month effort to overcome what he described as an attempted insurrection, and argued that Korea’s experience offers lessons for democracies confronting similar tensions around the world.
“At a time of global democratic backsliding, the world watched in amazement as Korea overcame an insurrection and restored democracy within six months,” Kim wrote, stressing that at the heart of that achievement was what he described as the public’s “democratic resilience.”
The scholars behind the nomination argued that Korea presents a rare modern case of a constitutional crisis defused not by civil war or violent repression, but by sustained, nonviolent civic engagement.
President Lee Jae Myung welcomed the news on X, formerly Twitter, calling Korea “a great nation of Korean people that will remain a model for human history.”
In a special address marking the first anniversary of the “Revolution of Light” last December, Lee said Koreans are “more than deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize” and suggested that their recognition would serve as a turning point for countries shaken by polarization and conflict.
Source: Korea Times News
