‘예외상태’의 역사와 제노사이드 이론으로 본 12·3 비상계엄과 그 이후

This study analyzes the December 3rd Emergency Martial Law Plot ― referring to the attempted declaration and execution of emergency martial law initiated by the Presidential Office, military, and police on December 3, 2024 ― as a critical case demonstrating how the ‘state of exception’ is normalized and institutionalized within Korean society. The intervention of key state power axes, even after President Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachment, revealed the ‘suspension of law through law itself’ ― a structural repetition and routinization of the state of exception. This December 3rd Incident, encompassing the subsequent impeachment, charges of insurrection, and realignment of judicial and party powers, transcends mere illegality, signaling a profound shift in the underlying governance strategies of contemporary Korean society. Drawing upon the theories of the state of exception by Carl Schmitt, Walter Benjamin, and Giorgio Agamben, this research examines its conceptual structure. It additionally incorporates Martin Shaw’s theory of genocide to explore the linkage between the state of exception and collective violence. The planned armed power organization, the othering of civilians, threats of eliminating lives, and the mechanisms of emotional mobilization evident in the December 3rd Emergency Martial Law Plot suggest the inherent risk of the state of exception escalating into genocide. Although physical destruction did not occur, the planning format, institutional execution, and organization of affect clearly contained genocidal elements. The study first analyzes the recurring patterns of martial law in Korean constitutional history, particularly through major cases like the Jeju 4·3 Incident and the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident, to dissect the structure and logic by which martial law has functioned as a ‘law-creating violence’. Subsequently, it delves into the composition of the armed power and the strategy of civilian othering in the December 3rd Emergency Martial Law Plot, deeply examining their connection to the theory of genocide. Finally, the study traces how the power grab attempts by the prosecution, judiciary, and political parties continued and institutionalized exceptional rule even after the failure of martial law. It also investigates how the spread of hate affect through extreme right-wing Protestantism and YouTube, driven by the ‘extreme right-wing affective algorithm’, normalized the state of exception in the form of ‘affective civil war instigated by far-right forces’. This analysis illuminates the internal mechanisms of governing power that enable destruction and exclusion within the outward forms of law and institutions. It ultimately diagnoses the ‘routinized state of exception’ facing South Korean democracy, seeking a critical understanding and exploring possibilities for new political practices.