South Korean President Declares Martial Law

[Ikemi]

A bit worrying ... I have friends in South Korea, so will be contacting them later today to see what's going on! More here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cn38321180et

[WindyCommon]

Can anyone shed any light on what is happening in SK, and why?

[RobB_]

WindyCommon said:

Can anyone shed any light on what is happening in SK, and why?

https://apnews.com/article/south-korea-yoon-martia...

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.




So perhaps a stunt and not a pre-cursors to WW3

[Hippea]

Is there any truth to the allegations made against the opposition parties or is this just a rather undemocratic move.

The world really is falling apart

[Wills2]

Hippea said:

The world really is falling apart

It does seem a dramatic step to take viewed through western eyes "martial law" seems the kind of thing that would enacted during the end of days rather than a political spat between parties.

[Art0ir]

Hippea said:

Is there any truth to the allegations made against the opposition parties or is this just a rather undemocratic move.

The world really is falling apart

His wife and political friends are accused of all manner of corruption and white collar crimes. The “anti communism” line justifying this is laughable.

It’s a coup (if sitting presidents can oversee such things).

[Amateurish]

Wills2 said:

Hippea said:

The world really is falling apart

It does seem a dramatic step to take viewed through western eyes "martial law" seems the kind of thing that would enacted during the end of days rather than a political spat between parties.

Sounds like a desperate step by the president to avoid being booted out and impeached. If he has the security forces and army behind him, it might work.

[Hippea]

Art0ir said:

Hippea said:

Is there any truth to the allegations made against the opposition parties or is this just a rather undemocratic move.

The world really is falling apart

His wife and political friends are accused of all manner of corruption and white collar crimes. The “anti communism” line justifying this is laughable.

It’s a coup (if sitting presidents can oversee such things).

Its quite shocking this is happening in South Korea, which is seen as a democratic western country. It really strengthens the view the western world is in a right mess

[lizardbrain]

So there is no credibility at all to his claims the opposition is infiltrated?

[p1stonhead]

lizardbrain said:

So there is no credibility at all to his claims the opposition is infiltrated?

I believe not. Scary stuff going on there. Hope he gets shut down fking quickly.

[Amateurish]

lizardbrain said:

So there is no credibility at all to his claims the opposition is infiltrated?

It seems very unlikely.

[Hippea]

This looks like it's escalating, special forces now in parliament where the opposition are gathering trying to overturn the martial law

[Hereward]

Are there any politicians globally who aren't total throbbers?

[andygo]

Hereward said:

Are there any politicians globally who aren't total throbbers?

Nope.

Hope it doesn't give Starmer any ideas as he's fresh out of any of his own.

[croyde]

These feckers, in all countries, love playing their stupid power games.

The governments are supposed to serve the people, not themselves.

But power corrupts and those in charge don't give a toss about the people.

[Hippea]

Photos of tanks lining major roads now, special forces helicopter's swooping into locations over Seoul

Don't the US have 20k troops in South Korea? You would think America would be a bit tetchy about all this

[lizardbrain]

andygo said:

Nope.

Hope it doesn't give Starmer any ideas as he's fresh out of any of his own.

Starmer, the guy with a majority in parliment?

[Skodillac]

Hereward said:

Are there any politicians globally who aren't total throbbers?

Yes, generally the ones who aren't hard right-wing authoritarians tend to throb a bit less. Perhaps if people would stop swallowing their misinformation and dog whistling, and also stop voting for them, we might be in a slightly better state. So some non-throbber examples would be Maia Sandu, Kaja Kallas, Jacinda Ardern (I know, she retired), Donald Tusk, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as opposed to this Korean throbber, Donald Trump, Bolsonaro, Putin, Orban, Modi, Milei, various UK Conservative PMs, Home Secretaries and Foreign Secretaries 2017-2024, all those sorts.

[Spare tyre]

Looks a bit exciting, anyone there?

[andygo]

lizardbrain said:

Starmer, the guy with a majority in parliment?

Yep, that's the chap. The guy with a very small proportion of the voting population actually voting for him and circa 80% not voting for him.