This photo from Jan. 3 shows supporters of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, wearing white helmets and rallying near the presidential residence in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. (Yonhap)
This photo from Jan. 3 shows supporters of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, wearing white helmets and rallying near the presidential residence in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. (Yonhap)

The launch Thursday evening of a group calling itself the "Baekgoldan," which literally translates to "white skull squad," has sparked an immediate backlash for evoking one of the darkest chapters in modern Korean history, when the same name was used by a plainclothes police unit to suppress people protesting for democracy.

The group, introduced as a unit of the likewise self-proclaimed "Anti-Communist Youth League," is said to consist of people in their 20s and 30s aiming to thwart any efforts to arrest the impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol.

“The unreasonable attempt to arrest President Yoon must be stopped immediately,” said Kim Jung-hyun, leader of the Anti-Communist Youth League, referring to investigators attempting to detain Yoon on a court-ordered warrant for allegations of leading insurrection and committing abuse of power during his botched martial law decree last month. “Sending armed police to detain a sitting president is reckless and could throw the nation into chaos — even civil war.”

The squad consists of about 30 core members, all of whom have volunteered, Kim claimed, while declining to disclose the exact membership figures for the squad or the youth league behind it.

The group’s name draws from a notorious police unit during military rule in South Korea during the 1980s and early 1990s. The original Baekgoldan was infamous for using violent means to suppress democracy protests. The unit is believed to have been involved in the death of a first-year Myongi University student, Kang Kyung-dae, who was beaten to death in a 1991 demonstration.

Kim of the anti-communist group defended its controversial name, stating, “This isn’t about endorsing violence. We chose the name because it symbolizes the strength needed during this crisis.”

The name Anti-Communist Youth League is also identical to that of a youth network organized for and played a key role in the 1960 election rigging for then-President Syngman Rhee, Korea’s first president who resigned amid public outrage over his election fraud, autocratic rule and violent suppression of the opposition.

The official launch of the group came after young Yoon supporters wearing white construction helmets were spotted at the Jan. 3 protest near the presidential residence, during a standoff between investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials trying to detain Yoon and hundreds of the president's bodyguards who had formed a human barricade to physically block them.

The CIO, after failing to enforce the warrant to detain Yoon within its initial deadline, has received an extension on the warrant's validity. It is expected to make another attempt to arrest Yoon any day now.

Meanwhile, the formation of the group has sparked widespread criticism.

The opposition has condemned the revival of a name tied to “one of the darkest chapters in modern Korean history,” calling it "appalling."

Criticism has also been directed at Rep. Kim Meen-geon of the ruling People Power Party who helped them arrange a press conference at the National Assembly on Thursday.

Even some Yoon supporters have voiced disapproval, accusing Kim of using the group to stir up dangerous conflict and to boost her own chances of being fielded as a candidate in future elections.