When he unveiled his new unification blueprint this week, President Yoon Suk-yeol called for South Koreans to fight “pseudo-intellectuals” and “anti-unification forces” to prepare to unify with North Korea under ROK rule, accusing these “demagogues” of spreading disinformation and sowing division.

But the president’s cryptic attack on amorphous domestic enemies undermined any hope of garnering broader support for his unification vision, experts told NK News, turning the policy into a cudgel for attacking progressive opponents and raising concerns that the president is acting counter to the liberal democratic values he professes to promote.