The CNN panel sees “parallels” between the South Korean president’s declaration of martial law and Trump’s Jan. 6 riots

CNN commentators noted that there are “shocking” parallels between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law on Tuesday and President-elect Donald Trump and the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.

Yeol imposed martial law after accusing the opposition party of engaging in “anti-state” activities and supporting pro-North Korean forces. Images of soldiers attempting to break into the National Assembly quickly went viral as the body voted overwhelmingly to condemn the order.

The “Inside Politics with Dana Bash” panel discussed the news and crime scene footage and openly made a connection to Trump.

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A CNN panel linked Trump to South Korea’s declaration of martial law. (CNN screenshot)

“We see soldiers entering the National Assembly. I mean, shockingly, you talked about the parallels to January 6th, just the picture of a democracy facing such a crisis. I think that’s something that people are afraid of, right.” “Democrats are afraid when they think about Trump’s return because he has promoted the use of violence to achieve political goals and, you know, or tried to on January 6th to achieve a political goal, and or at least played with it,” Punchbowl News co-founder John Bresnahan said.

“We talked about pardoning some of these people on January 6th, the rioters, insurrectionists, whatever you want to call them. So that’s in people’s minds,” he continued. “And then I think when they see scenes like this – it’s just shocking to see a decades-old democracy, one of the closest U.S. allies in the region, in the world, go through this kind of shakeup.”

“It stunned Washington, Capitol Hill. I’m trying to get a response from people. Nobody wants to say anything because they don’t know how to deal with it,” he added.

Bash agreed in his comments.

Other panelists also referred to Trump when discussing the situation. CNN senior White House correspondent MJ Lee, who was born in South Korea, suggested that Americans should pay attention to the news as Trump soon returns to office.

National Assembly staff spray a fire extinguisher at National Assembly soldiers in Seoul, South Korea. (AP)

“Of course we should have a conversation at the table about why this should be important to Americans, especially given that Donald Trump will become president in a few weeks, someone who has said he wants to use the military against his own enemies to pursue,” Lee said.

CNN chief correspondent Phil Mattingly explained the impact of Trump’s inauguration during this chaotic time.

“I think the fact that the president-elect is taking power at a moment when he’s clearly feeling more emboldened than ever before, based on the election results, based on what we’re seeing on Capitol Hill with his non-nominated candidates “In some ways we’re following a sort of traditional norm in terms of what they represent,” Mattingly said.

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Rioters at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 in Washington. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

“This president-elect comes to power thinking not only that he can do what he wants and what he promised to do domestically, but also internationally,” he added. “South Korea is not an insignificant part of its broader geopolitical strategy, which diverges very much from United States norms. Well, that’s what he ran for. That’s what he was elected to do. Do your thing, man. But this is a completely different moment than 2017.”

Yeol revoked his martial law declaration after lawmakers unanimously rejected the move. Under South Korean law, the president must lift martial law if Parliament requests it by majority vote.

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