“The whole situation just naturally evolved in a way that Yoon Suk Yeol became the symbol of this movement of freedom and liberal democracy, vis-a-vis communism, socialism, and tyranny,” said Lee Jung-hoon, a conservative legal scholar and dean at Seoul’s Yonsei University.

South Korean parliamentary lawyers seeking President Yoon Suk Yeol's removal over his short-lived imposition of martial law compared him to a dictator on Tuesday during their final arguments at his impeachment trial.

Suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday South Korea had been facing an "existential crisis" when he declared martial law last year, remaining defiant as he faced the final day of impeachment hearings that could formally remove him from office.