martial law declared in South Korea

[goingtohellinahandcart]

Not entirely clear what is going on but the president of South Korea has declared martial law and apparently troops have tried to enter the parliament

Hello - I just started a similar thread in News but it doesn't seem to have attracted any attention.

BBC Live here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cn38321180et

What does this mean?

Military coup?

I saw this and thought wtf.

The BBC reporting makes it look like it's a response by a corrupt leader embattled with all sorts of legal charges pending who is being undemocratic using North Korea as an excuse to hold onto power.

It's fucking scary.

And it's something I wouldn't put past Trump.

It's a classic seize of power technique.

If that's what it is, it's scary.
If it is North Korea provoked it's scary.

Either way, it's Really Not Good in a REALLY NOT GOOD kinda way.

Looks like it potentially is, yes.

Not entirely clear at the moment but the president did lose the last election and is trying to lead a minority government. There's also been allegations of corruption.

My niece lives in South Korea, very scary!

I am watching but not really understanding what is going on

Listening to the radio now, it’s happened 10 times before?!

How will this impact the UK, if at all?

Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel and now North Korea might dominate BBC headlines but the majority of us in the UK care most about the NHS, housing, education, jobs, COL etc.

I think there is a huge amount of confusion about what is happening.

Special forces are apparently inside the parliament building whilst a crowd of protesters have gathered outside.

Protesting is not permitted under martial law and anyone can be arrested without warrant for doing so.

There are also legal restrictions to reporting under martial law but these don't seem to have been sent out yet - how this will work in an era of social media is also an interesting factor.

There's are images of tanks on the streets circulating on social media which is scary.

It basically looks like a class attempt at a power grab by a wannabe dictator, but it's too early to tell whether it will be successful and whether the army / police will start to take on the public on the leaders behalf.

What happens in the next few hours will be crucial.

It is NOT good.

Just saw this headline, trying to get an understanding from world service

It destabilises the region.

China might be more likely to do something regarding Taiwan.

It might affect trade and manufacturing. (Think about what in the UK comes from SK - Samsung and Kia are South Korean).

It also may encourage Trump to use similar tactics.

There's all sorts of potential fall out.

It's far far to early to say.

Equally this might go no where and it might simply fade out and this guy might be arrested come morning, with fresh elections essential.

God knows.

A major country like SK having a military coup will have some kind of impact on the UK though.

Very odd and unexpected. The government appear to have voted against the martial law now, so goodness knows what happens.

New: Lawmakers in South Korea have voted to block the martial law decree announced by President Yoon Suk Yeol. 199 lawmakers voted to overturn the measure. It’s unclear what effect the vote will have on the martial law declaration – under South Korean law, the president is obliged to comply with the vote.

We will be very impacted when WW3 starts.
HTH

Han Dong-hoon, who heads President Yoon’s conservative People Power Party, has called the decision to impose martial law “wrong” and pledged to “stop it with the people”.

Special Ops were reported to be storming the parliament building where the vote has just been held.

However I am also seeing reports that since the vote, that forces are leaving the grounds and they are not complying with the martial law anymore.

Apparently any and all soldiers who still comply with the martial law will be punished for sedition.

If that's true this could be really rather short lived.

Hopefully that's the case.

Here is thread from someone who is there

https://bsky.app/profile/sarahjeong.bsky.social/post/3lcfxvft4u22g

I'm at the National Assembly building. The army is here. And I just saw two soldiers in fatigues getting pushed around by belligerent ajusshis. and they looked legit scared.

There will be neither an actual military coup nor a dictatorship in South Korea with nearly 30,000 American military stationed there. South Korea relies upon the US for protection.

A good follow on twitter is
AT koyrodynasty

He is a freelance journalist in Seoul who reports in English and has done reports for the BBC in the past.

He is at the parliament building.

His latest tweet had video of the crowds outside celebrating the vote.

I’m watching the BBC’s live stream. Here’s hoping the military abide by the democratic vote in the assembly.

Looks like military are withdrawing in response to the vote.

So looks like a failed coup.

Will Ripley CNN
South Korean parliament overturns President Yoon's martial law declaration. BUT Yoon's cabinet still needs to rubber stamp the vote. If they don't, it's a stalemate. President Yoon is a former prosecutor. He knows the rules.

Gosh this is so bizarre. The president seems to have lost it and I wonder if / how can he be ousted. The National Assembly votes against martial law was unanimous.

The military is withdrawing from the Natl Assembly compound.

https://bsky.app/profile/minseonku.bsky.social/post/3lcg2vwneys23