South Korea: martial law declared

[Flyaway]

Rather out of left field this.

South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in a shock address on Tuesday night, accusing the opposition of sympathising with North Korea and paralysing the government.

“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 in a televised briefing at 10.30pm local time.

South Korean president unexpectedly declares martial law in shock night address

President blames 'Pro-North Korean forces' for dramatic move

inews.co.uk

 

[Michel Van]

again a typical way Asian Nation deal with Internal political problems...
i hope the court case against Johnny Somali happen on 20 December.

 

[DWG]

Opposition party has the majority in parliament and won't approve his policies, so he's tossed the rattle out of the pram.

Disappointing given how long it's been since South Korea resorted to martial law.

 

[yeetmahboi]

Overwhelming 190 votes to void ML. Current prez seems toasted and the military hasnt been helping much.
Could be a plot by the mil force to gain favours with the new leadership, who knows.

 

[Arjen]

Wih 190 of the total 300 representatives present, of both opposition and ruling parties, all 190 voted against instating martial law.

 

[Archibald]

Hopefully this doesn't gives "ideas" to Barnier or Macron.

 

[Flyaway]

The article I posted up above has been updated with the following.

The military issued a statement imposing a ban on political activity including protests and opposition party activities.


“All political activities, including those related to the National Assembly, regional assemblies, political parties, the forming of political organisations, rallies and protests are banned,” said the statement signed by General Park An-su, who has been appointed Martial Law Commander.

The decree also puts the army in charge of all media outlets, and ordered trainee doctors who are on strike to immediately return to work.

“All media and publications (are) under martial law control,” reported South Korean news agency, Yonhap.

Anyone resisting martial law can be arrested without a warrant, the decree noted.

 

[Justo Miranda]

The atrezzo democracies imposed by the Western world are not adequate to stop communism (Vietnam) and are not well received or tolerated by these societies. Each people must have the systems of government that best fit their psychology.

Democracy is weak and has too many undefended backdoors, its strength is in credibility and when politicians, mired in their miserable power struggles, forget to present a dignified image to the voters... kaput!

 

[SK2]

The military (and apparently special forces) previously surrounding the parliament is apparently standing down, with some of them disarmed and 'waiting for instruction'

 

[Flyaway]

The BBC reporting now that the military are vowing to stay in control in spite of the parliamentary vote.

 

[Arjen]

19:34 GMT The president blinked.

 

[Dilandu]

Historical (alt) analogue: Allende shook his fist on Pinochet from window. Pinochet got sad, dismissed all soldiers, and complains to reporters that he only wanted the best for the country, and Allende was very rude to him.

 

[GTX]

Fred Wellman (@fpwellman.bsky.social)

The South Korean Parliament voted 190-0 to repeal the martial law declaration. Troops have withdrawn from the grounds of the National Assembly building but the commander of the martial law forces says it remains in place until the President rescinds it. But good news...

bsky.app

 

[DWG]

South Korea’s president lifts martial law in the face of united opposition

Rightwing president backs down after most serious challenge to country’s democracy since 1980s

www.theguardian.com

 

[SK2]

Some joked that the martial law feels as long as the Lord of the Rings movies!

 

[Justo Miranda]

Historical (alt) analogue: Allende shook his fist on Pinochet from window. Pinochet got sad, dismissed all soldiers, and complains to reporters that he only wanted the best for the country, and Allende was very rude to him.

History shows that when the military leaves their barracks for an operation unrelated to the defense of the country, it is very difficult to make them return to their daily routine.

Using the military to fight internal enemies is an act of desperation that shows that the internal security services have not functioned well. Better a limited witch hunt than to suffer a military coup d'état, international isolation and have all the basements and sewers of the country full of cells of national liberation movements.

 

[DWG]

Using the military to fight internal enemies is an act of desperation that shows that the internal security services have not functioned well.

If you're turning the internal security service on the elected government, which is what happened today, then you're the problem, not the other guys.

 

[Scott Kenny]

Yeah, this was really weird.

Martial law declared, Parliament meets anyways and is surrounded by the military, Parliament votes 190-0 "F-U" to the President, Military does not arrest/shoot them all...

 

[SK2]

Yeah, this was really weird.

Martial law declared, Parliament meets anyways and is surrounded by the military, Parliament votes 190-0 "F-U" to the President, Military does not arrest/shoot them all...

They knew their history well, which could be why the military, especially the special force (707 in particular), while eager to go in, apparently paid minimum effort to stop the parliament members from entering to vote

 

[Dilandu]

History shows that when the military leaves their barracks for an operation unrelated to the defense of the country, it is very difficult to make them return to their daily routine.

In this particular Korean case, it looks like military was deeply unsure about all those orders they received, and basically followed the best justification they were presented. They followed president martial law order, but clearly were uneasy about its legality, so when parliament gave them the excuse to NOT follow president orders, they gladly obeyed parliament.

 

[Justo Miranda]

If you're turning the internal security service on the elected government, which is what happened today, then you're the problem, not the other guys.

This is how it begins, a small column of Chinese soldiers in Hong Kong, a failed military coup by Hugo Chávez, the Maidan...

 

[Justo Miranda]

In this particular Korean case, it looks like military was deeply unsure about all those orders they received, and basically followed the best justification they were presented. They followed president martial law order, but clearly were uneasy about its legality, so when parliament gave them the excuse to NOT follow president orders, they gladly obeyed parliament.

Well, that doesn't seem serious as long as the parliament retains patriotism, there were also many senators in the opposition in South Vietnam but they ended very badly.

 

[GTX]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHyfZS4i0Uc

 

[Scott Kenny]

They knew their history well, which could be why the military, especially the special force (707 in particular), while eager to go in, apparently paid minimum effort to stop the parliament members from entering to vote

Wait, the military had the Parliament building (what is it called there?) surrounded before the politicians showed up to vote?!?

 

[martinbayer]

again a typical way Asian Nation deal with Internal political problems...
i hope the court case against Johnny Somali happen on 20 December.

For a low life nuisance mouth-breather like that it can't happen soon enough...

 

[Justo Miranda]

again a typical way Asian Nation deal with Internal political problems...
i hope the court case against Johnny Somali happen on 20 December.

After the result of the American elections was known, the planting of mines began to hinder the reforms of the new administration, an old story. I hope the new president (or his advisers) will be smart enough to ignore the lures and focus on improving the living conditions and faith in the future of their taxpayers.

 

[TsrJoe]

Somewhat off topic but a different (and more positive ?) vibe from S.Korea's 12th president predecessor by comparison ...

View: https://youtu.be/WjDJnflTRak?si=B58BKXrv4TdPC3IY

 

[GTX]

View: https://youtu.be/biCFL7ML_MQ?si=AKhutDoBA5ZI6emZ

 

[SK2]

Wait, the military had the Parliament building (what is it called there?) surrounded before the politicians showed up to vote?!?

Yes, you didn't read it wrong, the military arrived BEFORE the politicians, although the civilians arrived even earlier stopping the special forces (Korean 1st Para and 707)

 

[Scott Kenny]

Yes, you didn't read it wrong, the military arrived BEFORE the politicians, although the civilians arrived even earlier stopping the special forces (Korean 1st Para and 707)

Ah, civilians prevented the military from arresting the politicians then. Now I follow.

 

[SK2]

Most, if not all, male adults in South Korea had their conscription before, so they will know each other's ability well.

Also, there were some interesting footage of the 1st Para and 707 'unable' to climb over some simple barriers. Unless their recruitment is extremely bad, otherwise I cannot understand why Tier 1 units couldn't climb over, apart from unwilling to.

 

[TomS]

Ah, civilians prevented the military from arresting the politicians then. Now I follow.

It also seems like the military was not very enthusiastic.

One interesting point is that in at least some of their weapons had Simunition bolts fitted, meaning they couldn't fire live ammo. It may have been a half-assed way to issue less lethal weapons, but it also hints that their commanders were not prepared to fire on civilians.

 

[TMA1]

There is so much we are not being told. I sense nervousness and fear. Like things which used to be seen as completely in our grasp have now started slipping out of our hands. I am not just speaking for us but I get a similar sense with our potential enemies.

Are there any of those knowledgeable in SK politics? Are the "opposition" mentioned in the articles being accused of ties to NK? That is the gist of what I am getting. Are there any decent proofs of the claims or is it like how our opposition parties get accused of Russia collusion?

rewrote a sentence to make it less politically loaded

 

[Desertfox]

We know for a fact that there was open collusion between Trump and Russia, it wasn't partisan.

 

[TomS]

Are there any Koreans or those knowledgeable in SK politics? Are the "opposition" mentioned in the articles being accused of ties to NK? That is the gist of what I am getting. Are there any decent proofs of the claims if so? Or is this like how the Trump conservatives are branded as putin lovers over here?

That was the claim by President Yoon. But there's very little truth to it. The Democratic Party in South Korea supports diplomacy with the North. That's all.
The context is that the opposition won the most recent National Assembly elections and thus control the legislature. They are pushing back against Yoon's budget agenda and were working to impeach several of his supporters on corruption charges. And then Yoon appears to have flipped out and declared martial law for basically no reason and with no real preparation.

 

[TMA1]

Thanks I thought as much but with current year msm you essentially have to read five different articles and judge what they say openly with what they imply and what they do not say. After that you divide by two and you get an approximation of the events that are being discussed. I got a C- because I did not show my work.

 

[Scott Kenny]

It also seems like the military was not very enthusiastic.

One interesting point is that in at least some of their weapons had Simunition bolts fitted, meaning they couldn't fire live ammo. It may have been a half-assed way to issue less lethal weapons, but it also hints that their commanders were not prepared to fire on civilians.

Or it may have been an emergency way to issue less lethal items, assuming that the 1st Para and 707 got little notice on the ROK Pres announcement.

Because it does not make sense that civilians could beat a military unit that was expecting the announcement to the Parliament building.

 

[Justo Miranda]

We know for a fact that there was open collusion between Trump and Russia, it wasn't partisan.

That is not going to happen, but we must prepare for more Vietnams, more Laos, more Cambodias, more Yom Kippurs, more Ukraines and more Venezuelas.

The internationalization of the conflict has always been the standard procedure of asymmetrical warfare between the two powers.

In my opinion, the opposition will try by all means to create new international conflict scenarios to divert the attention of the new US administration abroad and prevent it from concentrating its resources and determination on carrying out internal reforms. The economic interests are immense, there will be new wars.

 

[Arjen]

BBC reports:

South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered the arrest of his own ruling party's leader Han Dong-hoon when he declared martial law on Tuesday night.

The arrest list also included the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, as well as three opposition lawmakers, the National Intelligence Service deputy director said.

The president tried to "use this chance to arrest them and wipe them out", said director Hong Jang-won.

The revelation came as the country's political parties held emergency meetings throughout Friday, with MPs planning to bring a vote to impeach Yoon. The motion, which is scheduled for Saturday, will pass if two-thirds of MPs vote for it.

South Korea: President Yoon's arrest list included own party leader

The head of President Yoon's party called for his suspension in a sign it may back moves to impeach him.

www.bbc.com

 

[SK2]

That was the claim by President Yoon. But there's very little truth to it. The Democratic Party in South Korea supports diplomacy with the North. That's all.
The context is that the opposition won the most recent National Assembly elections and thus control the legislature. They are pushing back against Yoon's budget agenda and were working to impeach several of his supporters on corruption charges. And then Yoon appears to have flipped out and declared martial law for basically no reason and with no real preparation.

They are not just pushing away the budget agenda, but also impeaching judicial officials that interfere on President's wife bribery case (by not prosecuting her). The South Korean President has admitted on the bribery case and officially apologized.

For the military and police, there are sources suggesting they were 'confused' when getting the order of arrest and surround the parliament.