One of the most interesting and unsettling facts concerning President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law debacle is that Yoon and other key figures who led the unthinkable measure attended the same high school. Around Yoon, they shared personal bonds simply based on the school they attended decades ago and created a faction in the government. They then resided in an echo chamber where Yoon's absurd idea was only amplified, not challenged, leading to a fiasco. This is tribalism at its worst. It shows how a lack of diversity causes harm. And to an extent, it reveals how the political and social organization of Korea operates in a premodern manner.

It is Yoon who declared martial law. But around him, there were other key figures like former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who is said to have recommended martial law and ordered soldiers to enter the National Assembly to crack down on lawmakers. Others who were sympathetic to Yoon included former Interior Minister Lee Sang-min, former Army Defense Counterintelligence Commander Yeo In-hyung and a couple of other high-ranking military officers. What are the commonalities among them, other than their support for martial law? They all went to the same high school.

Yoon and the key figures of martial law are all graduates of Chungam High School, located in northwestern Seoul. Yoon and Kim met each other while in high school. Others were years apart and probably did not know Yoon personally at the time. Still, Yoon and Kim filled key positions in the government and military with Chungam graduates simply because they were alums and likely to be loyal to him. They created the so-called "Chungam faction." Now many of them are prison buddies.

If you are the president or a public official, it is dangerous to surround yourself with loyalists. You only hear what you want to hear. There is no system of checks and balances. And eventually, group interest takes over public interest. This is anti-democratic. Democracy thrives on differences. It is about being open to different perspectives and managing them constructively to improve the overall well-being of society. Instead, Yoon's dangerous idea seems to have been only reinforced by his inner circle, eventually undermining the well-being of society as a whole.

Yoon and his loyalists are bonded not so much by a shared value as by their high school ties. This is premodern tribalism. In such a system, factions and groups are formed based on schools, kinships and regional ties rather than shared principles. Just because you hail from the same hometown, attended the same high school or are distantly related, you align yourself with a faction that serves your group's interests. Unfortunately, this pattern is not unique to Yoon's administration. It is a reflection of how Korean social groups and political organizations often operate. Instead of prioritizing professionalism, merit or political ideology, these premodern identities become the foundation for power structures.

Do you know who else went to Chungam High School? I did. I was many years behind Yoon. We just happened to attend the same high school at different times. Shortly after Yoon's martial law declaration, I visited Chungam High School's alumni website and saw a statement. The now-deleted statement was half-heartedly sympathetic to Yoon, simply because he is "one of our own." That is the premodern Korean group mentality. You identify with someone, not because of their leadership, ethics or principles, but because you shared a school or hometown. This mentality blinds people to wrongdoings and prevents accountability. It is precisely this kind of thinking that allowed Yoon's administration to function as an echo chamber, where dangerous and undemocratic decisions could be made without resistance.

This issue extends beyond one administration. The underlying problem is Korea's deeply rooted factionalism, which continues to shape its political landscape. When personal loyalties outweigh institutional integrity, corruption festers. When a government is filled with people who think alike, dissenting voices are silenced. The result is a system that prioritizes self-preservation over public service.

Across the world today, we see this trend in which leaders surround themselves with loyalists. But such loyalty may come at the expense of democracy and freedom in society. The Yoon administration's martial law fiasco serves as a cautionary tale about the perils of insular leadership.

Min Seong-jae (smin@pace.edu) is a professor of communication and media studies at Pace University in New York. He was a 2023-24 Fulbright U.S. Scholar to Korea.