Protests erupt in South Korea as president declares martial law

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Protests erupt in South Korea as president declares martial law

South Korea's President has declared martial law in the country for the first time in more than 50 years, leading to large protests outside the parliament building in Seoul.

President Yoon Suk Yeol made the declaration on Tuesday accusing the country's opposition of controlling parliament, sympathising with North Korea and paralysing the government with anti-state activities.

Police and the military quickly created a barrier around the parliament building but a large protest soon emerged in the middle of the night.

Hundreds of protesters waving banners and calling for Yoon's impeachment gathered in central Seoul despite the military saying they should disperse.

Inside the building, 190 lawmakers of the 300-strong body managed to convene and in an emergency session they voted 190-0 to cancel the declaration less than three hours after it was announced.

Members of Yoon's People Power Party party joined with the opposition to vote down the measure.

Under South Korean law parliament has the power to cancel martial law but it is unclear if the military will follow parliament or the president's direction.

Following the president's announcement, the South Korean military announced strikes in the country should come to an end, and that parliament and other political gatherings that could cause “social confusion” would be suspended.

The military said anyone who violated the decree could be arrested without a warrant.

After the vote to overturn the declaration, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won Shik declared that lawmakers "will protect democracy with the people."

Woo called for police and military personnel to withdraw from the Assembly’s grounds.

Yoon's conservative government has been stuck in an impasse with the liberal opposition Democratic Party over next year's budget bill.

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, who narrowly lost to Yoon in the 2022 presidential election, called Yoon’s announcement "illegal and unconstitutional."

The leader of Yoon's own People Power Party called the decision to impose martial law "wrong" and vowed to "stop it with the people."

Martial law effectively suspends the civilian government and puts the military in control of the country.

It takes a different form from country to country but it also usually comes with a suspension of civil rights, the imposition of curfews and strict punishment for anyone who breaks military decrees.

Yoon took office in 2022 but has seen his approval rating dip in recent months, as he's struggled to push his agenda through an opposition-controlled parliament.

He has also dismissed calls for independent investigations into scandals involving his wife and top officials, which has drawn criticism from his political rivals.

Yoon’s move is the first declaration of martial law since South Korea became a democracy in 1987. The country’s last previous martial law was in October 1979.

[LadyTevar]

And just like that, it's over.

BBC News Live

If you're just joining us, there's a lot to catch up on for what has been a stunning night in South Korean politics. It's just ticked past 07.30 in Seoul, and we can expect a lot of political fallout to come in the hours ahead.

Let's take a look at where things stand:

In a late-night TV address, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in the democratic nation, arguing that the move was needed to protect the country from North Korean elements and "anti-state forces"
Less than two hours later, with 190 of its 300 members present, South Korea's parliament voted down the measure and ruled the martial law order invalid
Soon after, President Yoon reversed course and announced that he would lift martial law
Large demonstrations have taken place parliament, with many South Koreans expressing relief that the martial law announcement was taken back
The US, a key strategic and defence partner for South Korea, says it was caught completely unaware by Yoon's announcement

OH, and from everything we've seen, the Korean Military is sitting back and doing NOTHING to help either side.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

I have to say, when I saw this on the news I was all

[Raw Shark]

I lived in a South Korean neighborhood for three years. I like those guys. Played a lot of Starcraft back then. Only reason I moved is because my building exploded. That was the time I almost died running into a burning building to save my dog. Other than that, I liked that neighborhood. Good food, good bike trails.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

I lived in a South Korean neighborhood for three years. I like those guys. Played a lot of Starcraft back then. Only reason I moved is because my building exploded. That was the time I almost died running into a burning building to save my dog. Other than that, I liked that neighborhood. Good food, good bike trails.

Your building exploded?

[Batman]

Those things happen. Gas heating, somebody getting careless with fire or sparks, blam. Explosion.Doesn't even require somebody to do it on purpose.

[bilateralrope]

OH, and from everything we've seen, the Korean Military is sitting back and doing NOTHING to help either side.

Sitting back and letting civilian authorities handle it is exactly what I'd want the military to do if they oppose martial law.

[Raw Shark]

Your building exploded?

Not the whole thing at once, just Apartment 305. I lived in 505, two floors directly above it. Turns out the guy in 305 was cooking meth and he had a bit of an, "Oopsy-daisy," as the hardened criminals call it.

[Batman]

Or drug labs, that's another reason places explode.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Your building exploded?

Not the whole thing at once, just Apartment 305. I lived in 505, two floors directly above it. Turns out the guy in 305 was cooking meth and he had a bit of an, "Oopsy-daisy," as the hardened criminals call it.

All I can say is, I get why you'd risk your life for your dog- I'd have done the same thing for mine

[Raw Shark]

All I can say is, I get why you'd risk your life for your dog- I'd have done the same thing for mine

He'dve done the same thing for me.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

All I can say is, I get why you'd risk your life for your dog- I'd have done the same thing for mine

He'dve done the same thing for me.

I'd like to think mine would too, he's a very fast runner but weighing just thirty pounds he's not a large dog by any means

[Raw Shark]

Yeah, mine was about the same (fat little terrier), but hed've tried at least.

[Raw Shark]

I still have dreams about that incident. I collapse from the smoke. The Monkey is barking in my face. MATTY! WE'VE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE! He's trying to say. We both could've died there, but he never would've left me behind. I think that might've actually happened on the stairs. I don't remember it very clearly.

[LadyTevar]

Back to the OT:

SK President under pressure to resign

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is facing mounting pressure to resign over his failed attempt to impose martial law, as parliament moves closer to a vote on his impeachment.

The capital, Seoul, has seen a second day of street protests demanding Yoon's resignation, while police said he was being investigated for "insurrection".

The opposition is pushing for a vote on the motion to impeach Yoon on Saturday, even as the president's party has said it opposes the move.

It needs at least eight members of Yoon's party to vote for his impeachment for the motion to pass with a two-thirds majority in the 300-seat parliament.

There's more to the article, but it's covering what we already know.

[bilateralrope]

South Korean parliament votes to impeach acting leader Han Duck-soo

Friday 9:02pm

South Korea’s opposition-controlled parliament has voted to impeach acting leader Han Duck-soo.

The assembly approved the impeachment motion in a 192-0 vote on Friday. Governing party lawmakers boycotted the vote.

The main opposition party had vowed to impeach Han after he missed an opposition-set deadline to approve independent investigations into impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife.

Han’s impeachment further deepened South Korea’s political tumult and worries by neighbouring countries caused by Yoon’s stunning December 3 martial law declaration and ensuing impeachment.

Han, the country’s No. 2 official, has taken over presidential powers and duties since Yoon’s impeachment. His impeachment would mean the finance minister was next in line.

The main liberal opposition Democratic Party, which held a majority in parliament, slammed Han for vetoing several opposition-sponsored bills, including a controversial agriculture bill. It also urged Han to quickly appoint justices to vacant seats on the Constitutional Court, which is reviewing Yoon's impeachment and would determine whether to dismiss or reinstate him.

Korean prosecutors and other officials were separately probing whether Yoon committed rebellion and abuse of power, but he ignored requests by investigative agencies to appear for questioning and allow searches of his office.

Yoon’s defence minister, police chief and several other senior military commanders have already been arrested over the deployment of troops and police officers to the National Assembly, which prompted a dramatic standoff that ended when lawmakers managed to enter the chamber and voted unanimously to overrule Yoon's decree.

Any guesses on if there will be a third impeachment ?

[Solauren]

Easy enough to avoid if your the next in line.

Order the investigation, and then resign and flee the country

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Surely the party with the majority becomes the government, instead of the opposition? Do things work differently in SK?

[bilateralrope]

They have the majority in the assembly, but they don't have the presidency.

The first think I'd check is if declaring which party is the governing party is an official part of their system or just what the media is saying.

[Lord Revan]

Minority governments are not impossible especially in multi-party systems.

In Finland for example the president is the one who decides who next prime minister is and the prime minister is the one who creates the government granted you'll need the approval of the Parliament to become the official government so it's not that likely that a minority government would be formed, but it's not impossible if for example the largest party was one no one other part wanted to work with and the second largest didn't want to be in the government for what ever reason, you might end having to gather the government parties from parties that are in the minority but everyone is willing to work with.

Granted in Finland it's rare for a party to have more then 25% of the Parliament seats and having more then 50% hasn't happened during Finland being independent (it happened once prior to that but the czar disbanded that Parliament as the Finnish Parliament predates Finland as an independent nation).

That said I don't know how the South Korean system is like.

[AniThyng]

Surely the party with the majority becomes the government, instead of the opposition? Do things work differently in SK?

Sk is a presidential system like the US where the president is head of government and elected independently of the legislature so you end up with this.

Nobody ever calls the Democratic or Republican parties opposition when they hold a majority opposite of the sitting president though. I guess people just assume everyone else folllows the more typical parliamentary style where the government usually holds the majority unless it's explicitly a minority government?

[LadyTevar]

I wonder if this story will get buried by the plane crash.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

I wonder if this story will get buried by the plane crash.

It was buried just a couple of days after the fact over here, which itself was overshadowed by the passenger plane that Russia shot down.

[Lord Revan]

I wonder if this story will get buried by the plane crash.

It was buried just a couple of days after the fact over here, which itself was overshadowed by the passenger plane that Russia shot down.

Again?! Someone seriously needs to ship Russian forces identification books so they stop shooting civilians.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

I wonder if this story will get buried by the plane crash.

It was buried just a couple of days after the fact over here, which itself was overshadowed by the passenger plane that Russia shot down.

Again?! Someone seriously needs to ship Russian forces identification books so they stop shooting civilians.

To be fair to our media, both disasters received coverage:
'Early indications' Russian defence system shot down plane in Kazakhstan, US official says

Russian air defence systems may have been responsible for bringing down a passenger plane which crashed on Christmas Day in Kazakhstan, according to a US official.

Russia has refused to comment on claims that its air defence systems shot down the Azerbaijani airliner, in an incident which killed 38 of the 67 people on board.

The flight was on its way from the Azerbaijani capital Baku, to the Russian city of Grozny in Chechnya, when it diverted and crash-landed near Aktau in Kazakhstan, veering hundreds of miles off its planned route.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the US has "seen some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air defense systems", but refused to elaborate. He said an investigation was ongoing.

Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said on Thursday the investigation into the cause of the crash was underway, adding that it would be “wrong” to speculate before the inquiry concluded, according to Russian state media RIA Novosti.

US officials said there are indications to suggest weapons fire may have downed the Azerbaijan Airlines jet citing expert analysis and survivor accounts.

The signs point to a Russian system striking Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 before it crashed, the US official said on Thursday.

If the early indications are ultimately confirmed, it may be a case of mistaken identity, the US official said, where poorly trained Russian units have fired negligently against Ukraine’s use of drones.

Nabiyev, Azerbaijan’s minister of digital development and transportation, told Azerbaijani media that “preliminary conclusions by experts point at external impact,” as does witness testimony.

“The type of weapon used in the impact will be determined during the probe,” Nabiyev said.

Passengers and crew who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the aircraft as it was circling over Grozny.

Flight attendant Aydan Rahimli said that after one noise, the oxygen masks automatically released. She said that she went to perform first aid on a colleague, Zulfugar Asadov, and then they heard another bang.

Asadov said that the noises sounded like something hitting the plane from outside. Shortly afterwards, he sustained a sudden injury like a “deep wound, the arm was lacerated as if someone hit me in the arm with an ax," he added.

He denied a claim from Kazakh officials that an oxygen canister exploded inside the plane. Two other survivors recounted hearing explosions before the plane went down.

Jerova Salihat told Azerbaijani television in an interview in the hospital that “something exploded” near her leg, and Vafa Shabanova said that “there were two explosions in the sky, and an hour and a half later the plane crashed to the ground.”

Officials from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia, urged people not to speculate about the crash until investigations have concluded.

Azerbaijan held a day of mourning on Thursday for the dozens of victims of the disaster.

Azerbaijani President, Ilham Aliyev, who had been travelling to St Petersburg, returned to Azerbaijan on hearing news of the crash, the president's press service said.

He had been due to attend an informal meeting of leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a bloc of former Soviet countries founded after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Speaking at a news conference, Aliyev said that it was too soon to speculate on the reasons behind the crash, but said that the weather had forced the plane to change from its planned course.

On Wednesday, Aliyev expressed his condolences to the families of the victims in a statement on social media, saying: "It is with deep sadness that I express my condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to those injured."

Flight J2-8243 crashed approximately three kilometres (1.8 miles) from Aktau.

The flight was carrying 62 passengers and five crew members at the time of the crash, according to Kazakhstan's Interior Ministry.

Of those onboard, 42 were Azerbaijani, 16 Russian, six Kazakhs and three Kyrgyzstan nationals, Kazakh officials said.

Mobile phone footage circulating online appeared to show the aircraft making a steep descent before smashing into the ground in a fireball.

Other footage showed part of its fuselage ripped away from the wings and the rest of the aircraft, lying upside in the grass. The footage corresponded to the plane’s colours and its registration number.

Some of the videos posted on social media showed survivors dragging fellow passengers away from the wreckage of the plane.

Maulen Ashimbayev, chairman of Kazakhstan’s senate, said Thursday that “the nature of these damages and the causes of the disaster are currently unknown.”

A commission has been set up to investigate the crash, involving representatives from Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia, Ashimbayev said.

Azerbaijan's president says Russia unintentionally shot down plane over Kazakhstan

An Azerbaijani airliner which crash landed in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day was unintentionally shot down by Russia, Azerbaijan's president has said.

Ilham Aliyev told state television the aircraft was hit by fire from the ground over Russia and rendered uncontrollable by electronic warfare.

The passenger plane crashed near Grozny, Chechnya, killing 38 out of 67 people on board on Wednesday.

Aliyev said that the jet wasn’t shot down deliberately, but accused Russia of trying to “hush up” the issue for several days.

On Saturday, Putin apologised to Aliyev for what he called a "tragic incident", but stopped short of admitting responsibility for bringing the jet down.

The Kremlin said that air defense systems were firing near Grozny, where the plane attempted to land, to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike.

On Saturday, the UK called for an independent investigation into the circumstances of the crash.

A spokesperson for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “President Putin’s statement fails to recognise that the reckless and irresponsible actions of the Russian state pose an acute and direct threat to the interests and national security of other states.

“We call for a full and independent investigation.”

South Korea launches investigation into fatal Jeju Air plane crash

South Korean officials have launched an investigation to determine what caused a plane crash that killed 179 people.

Footage of the crash shows the Boeing 737-800 plane skidding across the runway with its landing gear seemingly still closed, before colliding with a concrete wall. Thick, black smoke billowed from the wreckage, which was engulfed in flames.

Emergency officials in Muan said the plane's landing gear is thought to have malfunctioned.

The country’s worst aviation disaster in decades killed all but two of the 181 passengers and crew, including a three-year-old. The two survivors, both crew members, were pulled from the plane's tail section — the only part that was still recognisable after the crash.

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Acting South Korean president Choi Sang-mok presided over a task force meeting about the crash on Monday, and instructed the Transport Ministry and police to launch investigations into its cause.

Choi also ordered the ministry to implement an emergency review of the country’s overall aircraft operation systems.

South Korea's Transport Ministry said on Monday the government plans to conduct safety inspections on all Boeing 737-800 jetliners operated by the country’s airlines.

Sally Gethin, a Travel and Aviation Expert, discusses the plane crash that killed 179 people in South Kores after it veered off the runway and crashed.

Ministry officials said they will also look into whether the Muan airport’s localiser — a concrete fence housing a set of antennas designed to guide aircraft safely during landings — should have been made with lighter materials that would break more easily upon impact.

Video of the crash indicated that the pilots did not deploy flaps or slats to slow the aircraft, suggesting a possible hydraulic failure, and they did not manually lower the landing gear, suggesting they did not have time.

The control tower issued a warning about birds to the Jeju Air plane shortly before it intended to land and gave the crew permission to land in a different area. It said the plane’s pilot sent out a distress signal shortly before the crash.

Investigators retrieved the jet’s black boxes, but it may take months to complete the investigation into the crash, Joo, the Transport Ministry official, told reporters.

The Muan crash is South Korea's deadliest aviation disaster since 1997, when a Korean Airlines plane crashed in Guam, killing 228 people on board.

Sir Keir Starmer and King Charles were among world leaders to pay their condolences to the families and loved ones of the 179 people killed.

The investigation comes as the South Korean government is grappling with a leadership vacuum following the recent successive impeachments of President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, the country’s top two officials, triggered by Yoon’s brief martial law introduction earlier this month.