#sk politics

[destielmemenews]

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[memento-mariii]

Meanwhile in Korea: there have been overnight protests calling for Yoon's arrest, amidst the freezing snow.

The protesters brought these foil blankets(?) to protect themselves from the cold, and have jokingly started referring to themselves as human Kisses chocolates.

(art by @youru_mille on Twitter)

[the-woke-left]

[barbex]

From Threads:

(https://www.threads.net/@misterfoxwell/post/DDImU7cy6Y4?xmt=AQGzceOjs1b6b-lIz-8101dIpHcjeW5FP9OMAMFlXTSNAQ)

[sneverussape]

omg idk if yall heard but south korea had a very busy and very productive night and early morning... tl;dr - the president declared martial law in the dead of night and it was overturned in like 2 hours because the people came together despite the freezing weather, blocked the military and helped lawmakers scale the walls so they could get into the national assembly and vote against martial law

it was WILD i am SLEEPLESS lmao

[xcziel]

hadn't seen this on here yet

South Korea Is Fighting for Democracy Again—And the World Needs to Know

by Heesoo Jang

Assistant Professor of Media Law and Ethics, Journalism Department, University of Massachusetts Amherst 

South Korea is once again at a critical juncture in its democratic history. More than a hundred thousand protesters, joined by over 4,000 professors and 1,466 Catholic priests announcing their declarations of the state of affairs, are calling for President Yoon Suk Yeol’s resignation. This echoes the massive movement that led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye in 2017 for corruption and abuse of power, showcasing South Koreans’ enduring commitment to holding leaders accountable.

What’s unfolding in South Korea is not just a domestic issue—it’s a reminder that democracies everywhere require constant vigilance. Yet, international media, like the BBC and AP News, have largely missed the bigger picture, focusing on soundbites and foreign policy instead of the underlying democratic struggles. This oversight leaves out important context for the global audience to understand the deeper context of widespread domestic dissatisfaction of the state of democracy in South Korea.

At the heart of the protests are allegations of corruption and abuse of power. President Yoon has exercised his veto power 25 times since 2023, blocking investigations into allegations against his wife, including claims of stock manipulation in Deutsch Motors. This is the most frequent use of veto power South Korea has seen since South Korea’s first president, Syngman Rhee, who faced impeachment in 1952 and eventually resigned in 1960 amid widespread public outrage over his authoritarian rule and attempts to consolidate power. 

These vetoes, alongside scandals like the “Myung Tae-Kyun Gate,” have eroded public trust in the administration. The gate alleges that political broker Myung Tae-Kyun, a close ally of Yoon and First Lady Kim Keon Hee, manipulated public opinion during the 2022 presidential election. Through his Future Korea Research Institute, Myung reportedly conducted biased polls favoring Yoon to influence election narratives. A leaked phone recording released by the opposition Democratic Party has further implicated Yoon in discussions about candidate nominations, fueling allegations of election interference.

Beyond these vetoes, Yoon’s administration has faced widespread criticism for systemic failures in governance, public safety, and economic management. The Itaewon tragedy, where 159 people lost their lives during a crowd crush, starkly exposed grave inadequacies in public safety protocols and emergency response systems. A special investigation on this tragedy was also a bill the President has vetoed. Similarly, the death of Private Chae during military service revealed systemic abuses and negligence within the military. Instead of enabling accountability, President Yoon has repeatedly vetoed special prosecutor bills aimed at investigating these military abuses. Public frustration has only grown as investigations into these tragedies have failed to hold senior officials accountable. Meanwhile, Yoon’s administration has also faced allegations of undermining press freedom by targeting journalists and media outlets critical of the government. 

Adding to these failures is a healthcare system on the brink of collapse, where prolonged medical staff shortages, exacerbated by budget cuts, have caused long-term disruptions in patient care. Instead of addressing these structural issues, the government has opted for a hasty increase in medical school quotas—a move experts warn will only further destabilize the system. Yoon’s economic policies have similarly drawn heavy criticism for favoring the wealthy with tax cuts while reducing public welfare budgets, deepening inequality between South Korea’s elites and its struggling middle and working classes. Rising household debt and record-breaking small business closures have fueled calls for reform, yet the administration’s inaction has only alienated the public further. Compounding these grievances, a 15% cut to South Korea’s research and development (R&D) budget has alarmed academics and scientists, who warn that this decision jeopardizes the nation’s innovation-driven economy and long-term global competitiveness—a concern echoed by prominent universities like Yonsei and Ewha Womans University, which cite these cuts as emblematic of broader governance failures.

Despite the scale of unrest, international media have failed to convey the full significance of this crisis. Instead of contextualizing public discontent and the erosion of democratic norms, they have focused on peripheral issues, ignoring the protests’ broader implications for democracy. This has also allowed misinformation to muddy the narrative internationally, preventing the international public from gaining important contextual information about what’s happening in South Korea. For example, posts on Chinese social media have falsely portrayed the protests as anti-war rallies rather than demands for accountability and reform. 

South Korea’s struggle is a powerful reminder that democracy is not self-sustaining—it requires active vigilance. The protests and demands for reform exemplify how civil society can confront governance failures. The world deserves more context and a nuanced understanding from international journalism about what South Korean democracy is facing, as its fight for justice, transparency, and the rule of law holds lessons for all democracies.

[axl-ion]

It feels wrong to see the government collapse without the guy that said he will collapse the government.

[californiannostalgia]

if you're ever in south korea, do not trust korean protestant christians. they're nearly a cult of homophobia and authoritarianism. they've been campaigning to free the alt-right president who tried to place the country under military dictatorship.

and some moronic judge just declared yeah the coup-stirring criminal can just go home. now prosecution needs to immediately appeal this decision and take the matter to a higher court, otherwise the fucker walks free. really hoping the fragmented supreme court can pull through and declare him an ex-president very soon, otherwise we may be fucked.

my stomach can't fucking take this bullshit again. this is fucking nuts.

[californiannostalgia]

"how was dictatorship stopped by law" gee I dunno maybe it's because south korea is literally one half of a country that was dunked into the Cold War free-for-all immediately following our independence from Imperial Japan + our constant militarization and long dictatorship history means martial law procedure is part of our actual laws + when we won the democratic revolution we codified the dismissal of martial law too + there is the 2016 peaceful presidential impeachment precedence

democracy has always been loud, disruptive, and tumultuous. the entire point of democracy is that even if there are a hundred conflicts, the ones who win do not have to do so via oppression and slaughter. democracy is the collective scream that we can be better than this. it's flawed and horrible but so are humans.

if enough people are on the streets, they can't kill us all. this asshole was already deeply unpopular, and then he tried to make himself king. he plotted to arrest his own political party's leader and then fabricate an assassination so he could kickstart a war with North Korea. (North Korea saved our asses by the way, they said 'no we don't plan on waging war what the actual fuck')

last week's parliamentary impeachment vote failed because the wannabe dictator's political party defended him. this infuriated the already angry populace and made even more people take to the streets. people who couldn't make it to protests pre-bought meals and drinks at surrounding restaurants so protestors could feel supported. there were daily marches of protest and a great number of brilliant civilian speeches that will probably be part of a movie someday.

anyway TLDR: this week's impeachment vote succeeded.

we fucking did it

the warmongering dictator-wannabe is impeached by parliamentary vote (overwhelming public opinion put enough pressure on senators)

now all that's left is the supreme court decision, which should take quite a while, but I doubt they'll overturn parliament if they don't want the entire country to be very angry

holy shit we're actually safe

fucking hell

imagine being a Korean person awake at like one in the morning trying to accept that the president of South Korea actually just tried to go full dictatorship by way of an emergency martial law because he was basically having a political temper tantrum and every agency and corporation in the country is all hands on deck, code red mode on everything and the military is being deployed and then the assembly revokes the martial law and then the president is like lol nevermind and now you have to get ready to work at your shitty job on a Wednesday

[memento-mariii]

Happy Yoon got impeached day!!!🎉🎉🎉

The National Assembly voted to impeach Yoon Suk Yeol with 204 for, 85 against, 3 abstention and 8 invalid votes.

(Fyi Yoon isn't impeached just quite yet, his case needs to go through the Constitutional Court of Korea (think like the american Supreme Court) first, but I still think this warrants celebrating.)

[gaylittlebillionaires]

americans are so funny

[ssaalexblake]

i honestly thought i couldn't get more face palm-y over peoples ability to miss the point over squid game s1 but really, it's Worse with this season. What do you Mean you don't see the point of all the voting scenes??? You don't see any overt messaging in half the group repeatedly voting for the the thing that will kill everybody? For a shred of a chance that they'll make billions? You don't see any real world allegory there? That half the population is desperately trying to save everybody while the other half are betting everybody's lives on their chance at the detriment of the many? You don't see that?

[slaaverin]

What is happening in SK is so awful. I pray that all the people remains safe.

I couldn't help feeling scared for the members. We need to see how it develops before panicking of course, but the fact they are all trapped in military (without any get out of prison card for now and we don't know when and if they will get it) serving now a President whose values are completely opposite of everything BTS stands for, gosh I can't imagine the mental impact it must have on the guys. No one could have predicted it would go this far.

Why does it have to happen precisely during their service? And happen at all? It's like a weird joke.

I don't know. I hope things will blow over soon and that this President will be out and that order will come back.

I'm so grateful Jimin & Jungkook are together at this time, at least.

It's just so hard to imagine or know what exactly they are going through both internally and externally.

There's nothing we can do except keep the members and everyone in our prayers. There are so many unknowns and the whole thing is concerning and upsetting and everything is going to shit in this world.

So I guess the best thing we can do is stick together and support each other and the people in need the best that we can 🫂

Hopefully everything will be ok.

Thank god it seems SK have great people figthing for their democracy, and it is admirable. My heart goes with them.

Ahh, let's all stay safe everyone in such uncertain and unstable times. Let's focus on bringing good in this world, it certainly needs it.

Take care 🥺💜🫂

[silusvesuius]

my nelvas and moraak thought crumblets

[accessible-tumbling]

ID: A screenshot of text reading: ""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."

End ID.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/south-korea-president-yoon-declares-martial-law-2024-12-03/

that doesn't sound good

[californiannostalgia]

I saw you tag a post where you said that South Korea is ruined. Can I ask what the political situation is like there?

to be extremely brief and general: alt-right president got elected by weaponizing misogynistic logic and has been systematically tanking the country's finances, economy, justice system, human rights, diplomatic standing, etc

basically what's been happening worldwide since fucking trump fucking gave the example (in the most visible country in the world) that actually presidents could get away with doing extremely fucked up things