“The Daily Show” host and senior correspondent Ronny Chieng is just as baffled as everyone else when it comes to South Korea’s recent political upheaval. President Yoon Suk Yeol declared the country to be under martial law this week, a move that was reversed within hour.
“South Korea, stop giving Trump ideas. He didn’t know you could do that,” Chieng said on Tuesday night.
“Unfortunately for South Korea, this looks like the beginning of a long and slow descent into dictatorship, a dark period which may last years or even decades,” Chieng continued. The Comedy Central show then cut to a clip of the South Korean National Assembly voting to nullify the declaration of martial law.
“Oh that’s great! Good old Asian efficiency,” Chieng said. “The president went nuts, declared martial law, the assembly overruled him, marital law over and they did it all during a lunch break. Everybody, get back to doing K-pop. Chop chop!”
Chieng also questioned what martial law in South Korea would even look like, playing a clip from “Squid Game.” “Do they wheel this doll out and whoever moves gets shot?” he asked. Watch the full opening monologue above.
Though martial law didn’t last long, it will likely have lasting effects: When he declared the order, President Yoon, who is a member of the conservative People Power Party, accused the Democratic part of sympathizing with North Korea and conducting “anti-state activities.” He also criticized the party’s attempts to impeach government officials and senior prosecutors.
Following this stunt, the Democratic Party as well as five smaller opposition parties have made moves to impeach Yoon. A vote over this could happen as early as Friday.
