South Korean pastor vows revolt against Yoon s impeachment

Seoul - If South Korea formally impeaches its suspended president over his martial law debacle, one firebrand pastor says he is ready for “revolution”.

Evangelical preacher Jun Kwang-hoon is one of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s most fervent defenders, calling Mr Yoon’s Dec 3 martial law declaration a “gift from God”.

He has been prepping his followers to take action for weeks, and Mr Yoon’s release from detention over the weekend on procedural grounds has turbo-charged 68-year-old Jun’s sermons.

“If the Constitutional Court decides (to impeach him),we will mobilise the people’s right to resist and blow them away with one swoop of the blade,” Mr Jun told hundreds of supporters during a service held on March 9 outside Mr Yoon’s residence.

The authorities are so worried about the potential for violence when the Constitutional Court issues its ruling on Mr Yoon later in March that police have been granted special permission to use pepper spray and collapsible batons if his supporters get unruly.

They have cause for concern.

The pastor – long a fringe character on the extreme right edge of South Korean politics – has moved into the mainstream in recent weeks by taking to the streets as the disgraced President’s chief apologist.

“President Yoon started the cleansing with his declaration of martial law. The people and I will finish it together,” Mr Jun said on March 9.

He claims North Korea is behind the country’s democratic opposition and has promulgated unfounded claims of widespread election fraud – all echoed by Mr Yoon and his lawyers in their defence of martial law.

Mr Jun is already under police investigation in connection to the storming of a courthouse in January, with two of his followers arrested at the scene.

Police said they will mobilise all resources to avoid a repeat