In a very troubling development, South Korean President Yoon declared martial law without apparent justification. South Korea's Constitution permits a declaration of martial law "to cope with a military necessity or to maintain the public safety," but Yoon only made vague references to "anti-state forces" and support for North Korea amon…
In a very troubling development, South Korean President Yoon declared martial law without apparent justification. South Korea's Constitution permits a declaration of martial law "to cope with a military necessity or to maintain the public safety," but Yoon only made vague references to "anti-state forces" and support for North Korea among the opposition party, which controls the National Assembly, when he made the announcement. Yoon is deeply unpopular and neck-deep in corruption allegations, so he could be preempting a possible uprising, like what happened in 2016 when Park Geun-hye was forced to resign. The head of his own party has apparently come out against the declaration.
Hard to parse the exact implications at this point, but nothing good will come of this. It's also hard not to ask "what if" with Trump returning to power next month ...
I'd bet money Trump tries/does the same thing. He's going to spur multiple constitutional crises . . .all in a time of a booming economy and emhanced geopolitical strength. Just insane self-sabotage by the American voter.
We had folks like Milley and Esper to guard against unconstitutional behavior during Trump's first term. But he's clearly learned his lesson and will purge the Pentagon of professionals ... it's beyond doubt that he'll appoint a sycophant to lead the JCS, which would mark the end of arguably the most important remaining guardrail.
Romania, too, if Georgescu’s new majority polling holds up. And maybe Canada and Australia next year. And France’s government looks imminently to collapse like Germansy’s.
I thought the recent parliamentary elections went well for the democratically-minded moderate parties? Does this not indicate a likelihood that Romania’s voters will refrain from making the mistake of handing power to the far-right, pro-Russian Călin Georgescu?
Maybe. The runoff is such a 1v1 affair, though, and there were polls circulating on Reddit that suggested a cordon sanitaire has not consolidated successfully
Yup. The National Assembly just voted to end martial law after finally attaining quorum (police tried to block opposition lawmakers from entering the building). No question this is the end of Yoon; seems like a foregone conclusion that he'll face impeachment and criminal charges.
"South Korean military officials say the martial law will remain in place until President Yoon Suk Yeol lifts it himself despite parliament’s majority vote against it, according to local media outlet YTN."
EDIT: Here is a gift link to The Washington Post’s live coverage. They have five journalists covering this rapidly-evolving situation.
I'm not an expert on Korean constitutional law ... but this seems blatantly illegal. All media coverage suggests that the President is constitutionally required to end martial law if the National Assembly votes accordingly. But Yoon knows the jig is up if his gambit fails, so he'll probably push the country to the brink to save himself. Also very disturbing that the military seems completely willing to support this power grab.
BBC is reporting that Yoon says he will lift the martial law after parliament's vote. Guess he concluded he wasn't going to win and it's best to minimize his punishment rather than to go all in.
I'm so tired of our timeline. It looks like his effort will ultimately fail, thankfully. But our institutions across the globe are showing too many cracks and being attacked too often. I wish this was a boring era.
There's a whole wikipedia article on it, if you want to read it. The link is dubious at best.
There are a few genuine Chinese expressions in English, such as "lose face" and "long time no see". But almost all "ancient chinese proverbs" are not genuine.
Thank you! For a few decades I have been immersing myself in the "I Ching: Book of Changes" (Wilhelm/Baynes translation). Perhaps tellingly, the wisdom and sayings therein have a very different flavor.
In a very troubling development, South Korean President Yoon declared martial law without apparent justification. South Korea's Constitution permits a declaration of martial law "to cope with a military necessity or to maintain the public safety," but Yoon only made vague references to "anti-state forces" and support for North Korea among the opposition party, which controls the National Assembly, when he made the announcement. Yoon is deeply unpopular and neck-deep in corruption allegations, so he could be preempting a possible uprising, like what happened in 2016 when Park Geun-hye was forced to resign. The head of his own party has apparently come out against the declaration.
Hard to parse the exact implications at this point, but nothing good will come of this. It's also hard not to ask "what if" with Trump returning to power next month ...
I'd bet money Trump tries/does the same thing. He's going to spur multiple constitutional crises . . .all in a time of a booming economy and emhanced geopolitical strength. Just insane self-sabotage by the American voter.
We had folks like Milley and Esper to guard against unconstitutional behavior during Trump's first term. But he's clearly learned his lesson and will purge the Pentagon of professionals ... it's beyond doubt that he'll appoint a sycophant to lead the JCS, which would mark the end of arguably the most important remaining guardrail.
Romania, too, if Georgescu’s new majority polling holds up. And maybe Canada and Australia next year. And France’s government looks imminently to collapse like Germansy’s.
Social media and society are incompatible
I thought the recent parliamentary elections went well for the democratically-minded moderate parties? Does this not indicate a likelihood that Romania’s voters will refrain from making the mistake of handing power to the far-right, pro-Russian Călin Georgescu?
Maybe. The runoff is such a 1v1 affair, though, and there were polls circulating on Reddit that suggested a cordon sanitaire has not consolidated successfully
But it will be worth it because eggs will be cheaper!
Sounds like the coup is rapidly failing in Seoul. I’d have to imagine Yoon’s impeachment would come very fast
Yup. The National Assembly just voted to end martial law after finally attaining quorum (police tried to block opposition lawmakers from entering the building). No question this is the end of Yoon; seems like a foregone conclusion that he'll face impeachment and criminal charges.
People unsurprisingly won’t run interference for your autogolpe when your approval rate is 15%
"South Korean military officials say the martial law will remain in place until President Yoon Suk Yeol lifts it himself despite parliament’s majority vote against it, according to local media outlet YTN."
EDIT: Here is a gift link to The Washington Post’s live coverage. They have five journalists covering this rapidly-evolving situation.
https://wapo.st/4iwFvHV
I'm not an expert on Korean constitutional law ... but this seems blatantly illegal. All media coverage suggests that the President is constitutionally required to end martial law if the National Assembly votes accordingly. But Yoon knows the jig is up if his gambit fails, so he'll probably push the country to the brink to save himself. Also very disturbing that the military seems completely willing to support this power grab.
BBC is reporting that Yoon says he will lift the martial law after parliament's vote. Guess he concluded he wasn't going to win and it's best to minimize his punishment rather than to go all in.
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cn38321180et?post=asset%3Af9b5e751-fb9c-4090-965d-dc710ba71114#post
I'm so tired of our timeline. It looks like his effort will ultimately fail, thankfully. But our institutions across the globe are showing too many cracks and being attacked too often. I wish this was a boring era.
Oh, what I would give for boring! Your comment reminds me of two Chinese curses:
"May you live in interesting times."
"May you come to the attention of the authorities."
Not actually Chinese, of course.
Are these on that long list of fictional stuff ascribed to the Chinese? Wouldn’t surprise me.
There's a whole wikipedia article on it, if you want to read it. The link is dubious at best.
There are a few genuine Chinese expressions in English, such as "lose face" and "long time no see". But almost all "ancient chinese proverbs" are not genuine.
Thank you! For a few decades I have been immersing myself in the "I Ching: Book of Changes" (Wilhelm/Baynes translation). Perhaps tellingly, the wisdom and sayings therein have a very different flavor.
If we want “boring” we’re going to have to decidedly defeat, discredit, and demonetize the people trying to make things “interesting”