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South Korea's president declares martial law - WTF is going on?

Laxtonto

By Laxtonto
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Laxtonto

Laxtonto 12787

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South Korea President Yoon declares martial law

SEOUL, Dec 3 (Reuters) - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday declared martial law in an unannounced late night address broadcast live on YTN television.
Yoon said he had no choice but to resort to such a measure in order to safeguard free and constitutional order, saying opposition parties have taken hostage of the parliamentary process to throw the country into a crisis.
"I declare martial law to protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces, to eradicate the despicable pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect the free constitutional order," Yoon said.
 
He did not say in the address what specific measures will be taken.
Yoon cited a motion by the country's opposition Democratic Party, which has a majority in parliament, this week to impeach some of the country's top prosecutors and its rejection of a government budget proposal.
 

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cn38321180et

Edited by Laxtonto
Some more up to date sources, but nothing great so far
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Laxtonto

Laxtonto 12787

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What is so strange is it is 11 pm over there. So to declare martial law like this is so far beyond WTF, I have no idea.

What makes this so concerning is the other side issues and tensions with NK the last 3 months or so and the complete radio silence from everywhere since the declaration.

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Laxtonto

Laxtonto 12787

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AP - So who knows which slant you are getting being that it is early into the storty

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared an “emergency martial law,” Tuesday accusing the country’s opposition of controlling the parliament, sympathizing with North Korea and paralyzing the government with anti-state activities.

Yoon made the announcement during a televised briefing, vowing to “eradicate pro-North Korean forces and protect the constitutional democratic order.” It wasn’t immediately clear how the steps would affect the country’s governance and democracy.

Yoon — whose approval rating has dipped in recent months — has struggled to push his agenda against an opposition-controlled parliament since taking office in 2022.

 

Yoon’s conservative People Power Party had been locked in an impasse with the liberal opposition Democratic Party over next year’s budget bill. He has also been dismissing calls for independent investigations into scandals involving his wife and top officials, drawing quick, strong rebukes from his political rivals.

The Democratic Party reportedly called an emergency meeting of its lawmakers following Yoon’s announcement.

https://apnews.com/article/south-korea-yoon-martial-law-997c22ac93f6a9bece68454597e577c1

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AUS-97HORN

AUS-97HORN 11894

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this is starting to look like  the SK Prez is making a desperate last-second bid to keep power:

 

from the BBC live update on SK:

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Yoon has been a lame duck president since the latest general election when the opposition won a landslide.

He was not able to pass the laws he wanted, instead, he was reduced to vetoing desperately any bills that the opposition had been passing.

Yoon is also mired in several scandals, mainly one around his wife, who is accused of corruption. She is also accused of influence peddling. The opposition has been trying to launch a special investigation against her.

This week, the opposition slashed budgets that the government and ruling party had put forward - and the budget bill cannot be vetoed.

In the same week, the opposition is moving to impeach cabinet members, mainly the head of the government audit agency, for failing to investigate the first lady.

Yoon has gone for the nuclear option - he claims it is to restore order when "anti-state" forces he says are trying to paralyse the country.

 

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Captainant

Captainant 28004

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Just now, Evil Bill Obrien said:

Hope a certain orange skinned future occupant of the White House isn't taking any notes on this...No CR

From the AP reporting, they're drawing some pretty clear parallels between them and us:

 

Yoon — whose approval rating has dipped in recent months — has struggled to push his agenda against an opposition-controlled parliament since taking office in 2022.

 

 

Yoon’s conservative People Power Party had been locked in an impasse with the liberal opposition Democratic Party over next year’s budget bill. The opposition has also been attempting to pass motions to impeach three top prosecutors, including the chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, in what the conservatives have called a vendetta against their criminal investigations on Lee, who has been seen as the favorite for the next presidential election in 2027 in opinion polls.

 

Yoon has also been dismissing calls for independent investigations into scandals involving his wife and top officials, drawing quick, strong rebukes from his political rivals. The Democratic Party reportedly called an emergency meeting of its lawmakers following Yoon’s announcement

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gernblansten

gernblansten 3212

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2 minutes ago, Laxtonto said:

So under the South Korean martial law provisions, the government has shit down parliament for a specified length of time and has control of the media.

So no real announcements will probably happen for 6-8 more hours.

This whole thing is a mess…

I sort of shrugged my shoulders at this when I figured it'd shut down parliament, but their decision to shit it down has me concerned. Quite a mess indeed.

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OneOfTheOutOfFocusGuys

OneOfTheOutOfFocusGuys 2131

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Marshall Law (マーシャル・ロウ Māsharu Rou?) is an American fighter of Chinese descent who was introduced in the original Tekken game, and has returned for all subsequent Tekken games, except Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag Tournament (where he was replaced by his son, Forest Law, though he made a cameo in his son's ending and in the opening in the former)

chinese, not korean

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105692

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This is just S. Korea returning to some OLD habits.  35+ years of peaceful civilian rule is good, but S. Korea was under military rule for decades before that.  "Functioning Democracy" is historically a pretty fresh thing for them.  And old habits die hard.

And yeah.....the global trend towards hard right/corrupt authoritarianism in formerly democratic states is a thing.

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Nice Guy Eddie

Nice Guy Eddie 13568

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so in summary the Korean president is unhappy with his party's parliament ouster via an election so the military is going to remove the new parliament. Not good. 

For those not following South Korea, they're a relatively new democracy. They were under control by an authoritarian military from 1961 - 1987. Only then did the people have a say.

Not CR but this is a good reason why a military should not have personal loyalty to a president but rather the constitution. I would argue that having military and their leaders slightly in opposition to the president is a good thing if they at least respect and obey the chain of command. 

Edited by Nice Guy Eddie
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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105692

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Just now, David Dennison said:

 

The pivot point here may be the population.  1.5 generations of folks used to civilian rule, and the peace and prosperity that came with it, who also just voted by a significant majority for the opposition party, aren't going to be too keen on military rule.

And this is not a coup -- the military isn't taking control sua sponte.  They are being ordered to do so by a civilian leader.  Is the S. Korean military loyal to him, or loyal to the republic and the people?  We may find out real soon.

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Fudge Nuggets

Fudge Nuggets 19292

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30 minutes ago, Evil Bill Obrien said:

Armor rolling in Seoul...seems less than ideal:
 

 

Meh, years ago I flew out of Bangkok and landed at LAX some 16 hours later.  When I got off the plane, CNN was showing tanks in the Bangkok streets with bar girls handing out flowers to the troops.  Shit like this happens every decade or so over in that region, more often if you count pissant countries like Myanmar.

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workswithseed

workswithseed 2142

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34 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

so in summary the Korean president is unhappy with his party's parliament ouster via an election so the military is going to remove the new parliament. Not good. 

For those not following South Korea, they're a relatively new democracy. They were under control by an authoritarian military from 1961 - 1987. Only then did the people have a say.

Not CR but this is a good reason why a military should not have personal loyalty to a president but rather the constitution. I would argue that having military and their leaders slightly in opposition to the president is a good thing if they at least respect and obey the chain of command. 

It's why there should be no standing military. I guess we can only dream though.

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workswithseed

workswithseed 2142

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4 minutes ago, mchookem said:

ummm... so our expat/slow travel BFFs started the Asian leg of their world tour on Saturday. in South Korea. it's middle of the night so they aren't currently responding... i'm trying to decide if this is actually concerning for them... 🤨🤔

Pray for them for safe travels. It's a scary situation to land in the middle of. 

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atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 90143

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13 minutes ago, AUS-97HORN said:

legit question.... I thought Korea was a hardship post for Americans?  meaning no dependants allowed?

Nope. Camp Humphries alone has four schools for dependents. Humphries is our biggest overseas base.


They do have an Arby’s though, so maybe that’s considered hardship. 

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Chopper

Chopper 17380

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I was just in Busan in October. When I saw Texas Street, it was a bit wtf

DSCN7421.jpg.701b84d141b54997803df88b69f7650d.jpg

Named in honor of the Texans who'd go to the red light district during the Korean War. I was there in the morning so I don't know if it's more than just bars, restaurants and souvenir shops any longer.

 

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The Dog

The Dog 44313

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https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cn38321180et

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As we've been reporting, South Korean lawmakers have overwhelmingly passed the motion to demand that President Yoon Suk Yeol lift the martial law imposed a few hours ago.

The speaker of the National Assembly, Woo Won-Shik, has officially notified the president’s office and the defence ministry.

Legally, the president must now lift martial law, but politically, we must wait and see. There's been no word from Yoon since he addressed the nation.

This was a high stakes gamble for Yoon and he cannot afford to lose.

The lawmakers are staying put in the Assembly Hall for now.

 

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BabaYaga

BabaYaga 15417

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32 minutes ago, Chopper said:

I was just in Busan in October. When I saw Texas Street, it was a bit wtf

DSCN7421.jpg.701b84d141b54997803df88b69f7650d.jpg

Named in honor of the Texans who'd go to the red light district during the Korean War. I was there in the morning so I don't know if it's more than just bars, restaurants and souvenir shops any longer.

 

Saw a "Dallas Chicken" in London.  Did not sample.

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