
Koreans face yet another shock, as the controversy over the white skull squad suddenly erupted amid considerable tension over the arrest of President Yoon Suk Yeol. On Jan. 9, a right-wing youth organization calling itself "Baekgoldan," or literally the "White Skull Squad," held an official press conference in the briefing room of the National Assembly, escorted by a member of the People Power Party.
They said they opposed the arrest of Yoon by law enforcement and emphasized their determination to block any such efforts.
The white skull squad shares its name with a plain-clothes arrest group of the police unit that was notorious for its ruthless violence against protesters, with at least two beaten to death.
The squad symbolizes ruthless state violence and a reign of terror against the citizenry. It is simply nonsensical that an organization that uses the name of the white skull squad is delivering an official briefing at the National Assembly, the heart of democracy.
As soon as news of the briefing was reported, criticism poured in from all sides, including from within the People Power Party. Kim Min-jeon, a party lawmaker who provided them with the briefing opportunity, issued an apology statement.
The disturbance has subsided for now, but there is no guarantee this scene will not occur again in the future because it reflects a serious error in Korean democracy. Pointing out why this commotion should be condemned ― especially efforts to reaffirm the dark history of the squad ― will be meaningful to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents.
The previous "white skull squad" was established by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in 1985. They usually wore jeans, jackets and white helmets, and were assigned to protest sites. They were taekwondo masters and superb fighters. At the time, the level of Korean democracy was weak, so the squad members did not see the protesters as the people they had to protect, but as criminals who resisted state authority.
They never called themselves the white skull squad, but demonstrators commonly adopted the moniker for them, cribbing the term from one of the most notorious organizations mobilized for political violence under President Syngman Rhee in 1960.
The white skull squad of the 1980s spread to police organizations across the country to suppress protests in the early stages. Within about a year, roughly 20 squad members were formed for each company in most riot police units. They were primarily conscripted or volunteered for the units as a replacement to their mandatory military service. Although they may not have possessed outstanding strength, they had the willingness to commit ruthless state violence.
In the mid-1980s, the white skull squad served as bodyguards for the military dictators destroying democracy, but they were also our own people, nevertheless creating tragic situations throughout the nation.
One member of the white skull squad, sent to suppress a protest at a university in Seoul, was unable to control himself on a particular operation. He had been a senior at the university just a few months earlier. Now he was going to serve his military duty and was assigned to the riot police unit for that school.
The protest began. Following orders, he rushed into the campus and grabbed a student who had fallen while fleeing ― the student he grabbed was a personal friend.
The friend immediately called his name as they made eye contact through the gas mask.
Hesitating for several seconds, he intentionally abandoned his friend and ran in a different direction. But his colleagues saw it all. After the roll call that night, a senior unit member called and asked why he released the student. He told the truth.
His superior stopped the questioning and started smoking with tears in his eyes.
The squad was not only a symbol of state violence, but also the kind of hellish place in which they had to beat their friends to protect the vested interests of people they didn't know.
The military dictatorship ended, and a new Constitution was adopted after national demonstrations in June 1987, in which Korea started anew as a democracy. However, democracy did not occur all at once. Many elements of the old regime did not clearly disappear, and remnants of the military dictatorship lingered.
One of them was the white skull squad. They still maintained their authoritarian-era approach and viewed protesters as criminals. In 1991, they beat a 19-year-old college student protester to death with iron pipes. A 24-year-old college student who attended a demonstration to commemorate the departed student several months later also died after being indiscriminately beaten by the squad while fleeing tear gas.
As a result, many Koreans learned that democracy was not achieved at once in 1987. They realized that democracy was a trial-and-error process that grew step by step with constant challenges and strenuous responses.
There were obstacles that disrupted the democratic system, and the squad was one of the most notorious problems. So, for Koreans, the white skull squad was the epitome of state-sponsored violence and the No. 1 enemy of democracy.
While the history of blood and tears regarding the squad remains vivid, the emergence of an organization that welcomes that cursed name in 2025 evokes feelings of helplessness against huge barriers still in society. However, considering the insurrection by Yoon Suk Yeol and the fact that not a few Koreans sympathized with the insurrection, this has led to the self-reflection that we have been complacent about democracy for too long.
Recalling that the rules of the game of democracy endlessly repeat through a process of challenges and responses, we must renew our commitment to remain vigilant.
Wang Son-taek
Wang Son-taek is an adjunct professor at Sogang University. He is a former diplomatic correspondent at YTN and a former research associate at Yeosijae. The views expressed here are the writer’s own. -- Ed.