This is personally worrying — my son is in the midst of interviewing for a new position in the army (he’s a Major in the signal corps), and just this past week he was narrowing his options down to a position in South Korea. We thought this was good news, since he’s currently stationed in Kuwait, and we’d rather he were in a nice, peaceful, calm place. But look! South Korean President Yoon has declared martial law, citing vague threats from North Korean communists while actually targeting the South Korean opposition parties.
“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.
Yoon did not immediately specify who constituted the pro-North Korean anti-state forces. But he has cited such forces in the past as hindering his agenda and undermining the country.
He did not say in the address what specific measures will be taken. Yonhap reported that the entrance to the parliament building was blocked.
“Tanks, armored personnel carriers, and soldiers with guns and knives will rule the country,” Lee Jae-myung, leader of the opposition Democratic Party, which has the majority in parliament, said in a livestream online. “The economy of the Republic of Korea will collapse irretrievably. My fellow citizens, please come to the National Assembly.”
Yeah, everyone who opposes my politics is a Communist who supports the terrorists. Sounds familiar.
The news sources are predicting immediate protests, rallies, and even riots in response — South Koreans do not abide autocracies taking over. The American military won’t respond (we hope!), but it’s probably no fun to be hunkered down in Camp Humphreys while the citizenry takes to the streets.
It’s probably too much to expect that someone in the military will always be posted to someplace calm.
I Googled for Camp Humphreys. It seems to be a pretty big place with schools and family housing not far from Seoul. I wouldn’t worry too much.
(Sgt. Seymour was stationed at K-2 Air Base just outside of Taegu around the end of the Vietnam war. I had a pretty good time and learned a bit of the Korean language, almost all of which I’ve forgotten over the decades.)
The parliament sat at 1 in the morning and voted the fash down. Now reports are confusing, military has withdrawn, military is supporting martial law. Next few hours will tell.
The martial law decree has been declared invalid by South Korea’s National Assembly and troops are beginning to withdraw. It looks like the president has found a way to get all the opposition parties to forget their differences and band together against his own party. Oops!
Rich Woods@3: According to some news sites not even the president’s own party likes him very much right now.
What the Korean military is actually doing seems to be a bit unclear right now, going by news reports.
Cross posted from The Infinite Thread:
Followup to JM @57 on The Infinite Thread:
Link
Fuck! Trump’s metastasising.
A return to form.
Conveniently memory-holing the fact that South Korea alternated between dictatorship and military rule for 43 years. Historically they do abide autocracies taking over.
beholder, ya’ little shit, please.
A few years ago president Park Gyunhe proved to be corrupt, she was thrown out of office and into prison. Yes, the same Koreans who are raised to be normally quite deferential and submissive to authority removed a sitting president from office and judged her to be guilty enough to do actual prison time (she was later pardoned by another president, but she spend several years in the hole). They did something the “rugged individualist” Americans who claim they “don’t trust people with power” have yet to accomplish in their entire fucking entire history which is incredibly fucking sad.
Koreans:1, Americans:0.
THere’s a Trump-style fascist in every country. Its just a pity the Dummycrats are not more like South Koreas opposition parties.
In the news:
@AugustVerger,
Oh irony of ironies:
Source: Guardian
He’s going to get a taste of his own medicine, perhaps? But also, maybe don’t crow too much about South Korea. The one who helps to depose a president might some day be a president himself that needs deposing.
I crow all day about Korea when Americans think they can shit on them and bask in their arrogance about how those little people obviously are inferior to them, especially from some narcissist fascism-enabler like beholder.
I ask again, how many corrupt presidents have the US removed from office and thrown in prison? Fucking none.So the score’s still
KOREA:1, US: 0
@AugustusVerger:
South Korea – Size = 100,000 sq mi; Population = 52 million; Demographics = 95% Korean
United States – Size = 3.8 million sq mi; Population 334 million; Demographics = 61% white
These two things are not the same. Overthrowing a corrupt President in South Korea is like overturning a corrupt US governor – which has been done about 22 times in US History.
Hm. I reckon Beholder beholds properly in this case.
Here, a more mainstream source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/04/south-korea-martial-law-drama-yoon-suk-yeol-history-of-coups-military-rule
Article begins thus:
“South Korea became a democracy only in the late 1980s, and military intervention in civilian affairs remains a touchy subject.
During the dictatorships that emerged as the country rebuilt from the destruction of the 1950-53 Korean war, leaders occasionally proclaimed martial law that allowed them to station combat soldiers, tanks and armoured vehicles on streets or in public places to prevent anti-government demonstrations.”
LoL, is that supposed to be an excuse? “Our country is too big, that’s why we are too wussy to do anything about our pseudo-kings when they get out of line”.
Rugged individualists living in the land of the free and the home of the brave, my ass.
Also, Johnny-boy, military coups. As in the people with arms had to violently take control. In the US such people are instead voted into power by the ghormless electorate. So the Koreans still got one over the US no matter how much you want to turn it.
No they fucking don’t, you lying arsehole. South Korea was occupied by the USA from 1945-48. Before that, the whole of Korea was a Japanese colony. The first President, Syngman Rhee, was elected in 1948, but the election, held under US military rule, had many undemocratic elements. Rhee was both authoritarian and corrupt, and was forced from power by the “April Revolution” of 1960 which established the democratic Second Republic. This was overthrown by a military coup in 1961, led by Major-General Park Chung Hee. Park’s economically successful but dictatorial rule lasted until 1979, when, following an uprising against his dictatorship, he was assassinated by a close ally. Park was succeeded by another dictator, Chun Doo-hwan, who brutally suppressed the Gwangju Uprising in 1980. The June Democratic Struggle of 1987 ended authoritarian rule, forming the current Sixth Republic. So, in brief, the South Korean people have repeatedly struggled for democracy against autocracies. Admittedly, in earlier cases it has taken them years rather than hours to get rid of them, but to say they “abided” them is a gross slander, of exactly the kind I’d expect from you – I’d like to know how you think an efficiently conducted military coup can be halted in its tracks. In any case, I’ve no doubt you prefer the regime of your hero Putin’s BFF Kim Jong-un.
America, attend to South Korea’s example.
Update on the situation in South Korea from the Guardian: ‘Great danger’ to South Korea unless President Yoon suspended, says ruling party leader. Note that the “ruling party” is Yoon’s own conservative “Peoples’ Power” party, and earlier its leadership said they would oppose the upcoming vote on impeaching Yoon, but the leader is worried that Yoon will try again. Whether they (or enough of their representatives in the national assembly) have changed their mind on impeachment is unclear. At any rate, the crisis is not over. Unions have called a general strike until Yoon resigns or is removed – I haven’t heard how well supported this is.