Moving beyond the domestic and secular frameworks that dominate mainstream narratives about Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed 2024 martial law decree in South Korea, this paper examines the politico-religious dynamics that unfolded across transnational networks of charismatic Christianity. The analysis begins by tracing the origins of the ‘Gwanghwamun Movement’ ? a Protestant-based far-right movement in South Korea that drew crucial inspiration from the rise of Trumpism and its charismatic Christian support base in the USA from 2017 onward. Looking at recent developments in 2024-2025, this study further investigates how the Gwanghwamun Movement prefigured the political mobilization of several Christian nationalist groups which rallied behind Yoon Suk-yeol’s continued presidency during impeachment proceedings under the influence of Trump-supporting charismatic Christianity in the USA. Despite this trans-Pacific religious alliance, mainstream Korean Christianity largely regards these charismatic Christian movements as ‘heretical’ and maintains distance from them. This situation serves as a seed of division latent within the anti-impeachment movement centered around the Korean Christian community.
Moving beyond the domestic and secular frameworks that dominate mainstream narratives about Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed 2024 martial law decree in South Korea, this paper examines the politico-religious dynamics that unfolded across transnational networks of charismatic Christianity. The analysis begins by tracing the origins of the ‘Gwanghwamun Movement’ ? a Protestant-based far-right movement in South Korea that drew crucial inspiration from the rise of Trumpism and its charismatic Christian support base in the USA from 2017 onward. Looking at recent developments in 2024-2025, this study further investigates how the Gwanghwamun Movement prefigured the political mobilization of several Christian nationalist groups which rallied behind Yoon Suk-yeol’s continued presidency during impeachment proceedings under the influence of Trump-supporting charismatic Christianity in the USA. Despite this trans-Pacific religious alliance, mainstream Korean Christianity largely regards these charismatic Christian movements as ‘heretical’ and maintains distance from them. This situation serves as a seed of division latent within the anti-impeachment movement centered around the Korean Christian community.