Why South Korea's president suddenly declared martial law | The Take

A wild six hours ensued in South Korea after President Yoon Suk-yeol suddenly declared martial law. Parliament swiftly countered, ending the brief crisis, but Yoon’s political future now hangs in the balance. How did South Korea get here? And how will its brief brush with martial law reshape its political future?
In this episode:
Se-Woong Koo, Managing Editor of Korea Exposé
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Amy Walters, Ashish Malhotra, Tamara Khadaker, and Sonia Bhagat with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Duha Mosaad, Hagir Saleh, Cole Van Miltenburg, and our host, Malika Bilal.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editor is Hisham Abu Salah. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.

[@myGGoome]

Most Koreans think of young soldiers as their sons and brothers. So they respect each other and embrace each other.

[@elijahdungan3612]

@@myGGoome military service is mandatory for the young

[@noonagom]

As a Korean, 2 nights ago at 10:30 PM martial law was declared, but by 1 AM, 190 lawmakers nullified it. Yoon used soldiers to block the National Assembly, but lawmakers climbed over the wall to hold a meeting. By 4:30 AM, Yoon gave in. It was a shocking 6hour drama, and almost everyone stayed up all night and went to work. That night, I went to the National Assembly like in this video. It was my first time seeing armed soldiers and military helicopters up close. Thankfully, both citizens and soldiers were upset about the situation and faced each other carefully. Even with thousands of people there, no one was hurt. Democracy is still alive here. We hope Yoon steps down quickly. We want all foreign media to pay attention so he can’t hold on. Thank you so much for this video.

[@cabinjung]

한국 최정예 공수 특공대원들이 국회의사당 진입을 시도 하였습니다. 그러나 성숙한 군인들은 민간인을 공격위합하지 않고 법적 절차에 따라 후퇴 복귀하였다. 한국은 민주주의 성숙도가 매우 높다. 이런 친위쿠테타는 결코 한국에서 성공 못한다.

[@M_SC]

Well done Koreans!

[@Mk101T]

@@cabinjung 북부와 남부에 대해 어떻게 생각하시나요? . . 재결합이 필요합니다. . . 미래를 위해? 번역 기계의 자비로 죄송합니다. But ... The Butlerian Jihad ... this time around will be machines to save us from human whimsy .

[@JazzontheDocket]

How long has he been in office? Has he been doing stuff like this before

[@anju5124]

@@noonagom I am so proud of you all people. You have no idea how much hope you are giving to me. ❤✊ Much love from India.

[@nataliegallagher6920]

Well done! I’m so impressed by the Korean people and the spillers who respected the citizens. All us western people need to stand up with you!

[@JayzBeerz]

I'm a US Soldier on the DMZ. Glad the South Korean officials took care of this quickly. Prayers for South Korea and the US Soldiers stationed on the DMZ.

[@MYTH_Daegu]

@@JayzBeerz Thanks for your service Sir 🫡 I'm so relieved, too, that gen Z of Korea is totally awaken, smart, brilliant and lovely

[@blancafernandez311]

@@JayzBeerz great comment!

[@JayzBeerz]

@@MYTH_Daegu thank you.

[@JayzBeerz]

@@blancafernandez311thank you

[@xowb1869]

Fake news I am Korean now most Koreans actually support the president. He brought out the election fraud. Which is very likely related to naughty Chinese. 中国人 天安门 again🎉

[@sus9709]

Thank you for this calm report that helped me understand some of the background. Se-Woong Koo's details about the different perspectives in Korean society and about the "lack of military support" for a coup was especially interesting. I hope you do a follow-up (and include more information about the military leaders who "saved the day")

[@manuelaebensberger2326]

Agree, it also sounds to me like those soldiers and police on the ground are to thank for the fact that this whole situation was resolved quickly and rather peacefully without any injured people

[@MalikaBilal]

Thanks for watching! Hope you got a chance to catch our follow up last week (with our guest host, Kevin and See-Woong Koo): 'What led to South Korea's President Yoon's arrest?'

[@noumankhanbannuzai4895]

The show "The Take" is absolutely amazing and very informative. It delves audience into a deep understanding of the global current events.

[@SableRain]

This has nothing to do with anything, but I found these two people's voices so pleasant to listen to. 🥰

[@JeanineH]

Agreed. I love this females voice now…. I’ve got to find more AJ ENG w her present now lol p

[@cptr]

Exactly. No reason for the marshal law was explored

[@MalikaBilal]

Thanks for the lovely compliment! And agreed on my guest - Se-Woong Koo is now one of my fav people to interview!

[@MalikaBilal]

@@JeanineH Haha, well I used to host a show called The Stream that's still up on KZbin but now you can find me on The Take playlist :)

[@Peachfaerie]

❤Mr.Se Woong Koo is so articulate, thanks so much I learned so much from him in just a few minutes. Kudos to the respectful interviewer who asked him the questions we too, wanted to ask🙏👍👍♥️Peace & love🥰🤩Thank you Al Jazeera

[@hemjoo]

@@Peachfaerie agree wholeheartedly

[@rmb2664]

Good interview. This is the first that I have heard of the events from a Korean. I had heard news reports of the events before but without the context. You did a good job with this.

[@norandoranja]

Thank you for this great interview.

[@charpkun]

On of the most measured takes on this fiasco. Thank you for sharing the story.

[@HenrikMidteng]

I didn’t expect this from South Korea 😢 Smells of dictatorship! Hopefully the South Korean people will be brave and uphold their Democracy 🙏🏼

[@apeke7297]

the 6 hour martial law, shows alot more than highlighted, it says one important thing about south korea, their main problem is not the low birth rate, it clearly highlighted the inability of south korea to defense herself in case of an attack. in hindsight, this may look cool and wow, but politically, it is brutal. 1) when a society has shows that they have more power than than their leader, it leaves door to. it is easier to manupulate a power hold by the society than a leader whose everything is on the line 2) division among people, when there is a division among people the soceity has fall 3) big win for north korea, north korea has being showing and sending signs of threat, when their president now told them they are in danger they beleive no it can not be, let just say, there is a real danger, do any one think, this are the people who will and are ready to defend? certainly not! 4) south koreans are ready to let go of their freedom entirely, than to sacrifice a little of their freedom to clearly see what is going on. i am pretty sure north koreans are laughing hard right now. 5) people are even calling a coup, now who is stuck in the old century is it the north or the south. whether it is a coup or not does not matter, the fact is clear, the citizens who no nothing about politics, their political relation, the internal things, appears have more power than their leaders. if that is the case there is no reason why there should be a president.6) and last but not least those who they train the military for monthS, have been proven to be NOTHING, one amin rule in military is to heed commands, but id those who were TRAINED to heed command, are not heeding? trouble is near. this is the people who will be defending the country in case of war, if they can not heed the command of a PRESIDENT, WhOSE COMMAND WOULD THEY HEED?

[@monarikim1618]

@@apeke7297 wal wal wal!

[@timlovick87]

See the difference between Korea and America... Korea remembers what not having freedom feels like, us Americans are 100% takin freedom for granted why were in our situation right now. Good for the people of Korea and there military and police for respecting there people and there democracy. Shame on every single leader who thinks there country and the world is there play pin.

[@benkim2016]

Akso, nobody was hurt, and the soldiers were constantly apologizing to the people at the sute for their actions.

[@zeonmx]

Soldiers didn't want to be there and they were just there because of the order. Their superiors told them to carry non-lethal ammunitions, as seen in pictures in social media. Some of the soldiers were carrying a pistol without a magazine loader. Some of the soldiers were carrying rifle with clear blue line taped around a magazine, which is non-lethal used for training purpose only.

[@ndychung007]

Korean public fight to keep democratic process. Some Americans fight to destroy democratic process.

[@DaveSmith-cp5kj]

America also fought for freedom, that's why Trump got elected overwhelmingly despite multiple governments colluding, multiple assassination attempts, and billions of dollars spent against him.

[@katerina6990]

Not only America, Europe as well

[@lenniehsiao]

This was such a good interview! Haven’t been able to find a reliable source for this.

[@trixy1823]

Thank you. You made a good choice in Mr Koo. I’ve been going through the many interviews and he did a great job in outlining the backstory of how South Korea got to where they are. I’m so grateful that night didn’t turn out like the 🇺🇸on January 6, 2021.

[@cindyabel1010]

The last thing any democratic country would want is to have a politicized military, which Martial Law almost always automatically installs once it has been declared. I hope every Korean will continue to repel any attempt by any self-serving leader to declare such.

[@TheKrazyk2010]

Kind of like when Justin Trudeau performed his martial law on protesters over the vaccine mandates right?

[@fredkrissman6527]

An excellent interview! Very informative while remaining calm is so rare nowadays... The story about the parents was very illuminating too.

[@KeliK1]

Thank you both!

[@blancafernandez311]

The presenter and the interviewed are excellent communicators !

[@andreasmetzner2005]

Great segment, thank you. Finally I get some real answers to what's going on in sKorea. Short but sweet.

[@7Wintersand7Springs]

Such a helpful and informative interview. Hoping you can invite Se-woong Koo back again as this situation unfolds.

[@ThomasBolling-w2f]

This was a very helpful episode. Thank you very much. I'm a long-time follower of Al Jazeera, in Seattle.

[@ebflegg]

They won't tell the truth about Syria unfortunately

[@lynnkim6492]

The witty and humorous interview with SeWoong Koo was both fascinating and impressive, full of engaging fun. Thank you Mr. Koo

[@MsPennelope]

This was a great interview and very informative. Thank you!

[@JeanineH]

Thank you for explaining this to us!

[@067ecbbnmv]

Please pray for South Korea. Currently, South Korea is engaged in a battle against pro-communist left-wing factions that operate under the guise of democracy. A few days ago, President Yun exercised his constitutional authority to declare martial law. However, the National Assembly nullified it through their decision. As a result, President Yun is now facing potential impeachment, charges of treason, and an investigation for alleged illegal actions. The reason for declaring martial law was to secure evidence from the National Election Commission regarding illegal activities in the last two parliamentary elections and the presidential election. Electoral fraud is widespread in South Korea, yet no one can legally investigate the National Election Commission. Martial law was the only means available for the president to launch a legitimate investigation. President Yoon already possessed evidence and information indicating that the Democratic Party's 192 seats were fraudulently obtained through rigged elections. He intended to use the martial law declaration to investigate this. The implementation of martial law was peaceful, with no harm caused to anyone, and there was no military interference in the National Assembly’s voting process. This reflects President Yoon’s directive to prioritize public safety. However, the criminal leftist Democratic Party is falsely portraying the president’s legitimate exercise of authority as a national rebellion. Their motive is to prevent exposure of their crimes, given that their majority was obtained through fraudulent elections. They are now intensifying efforts to demonize President Yoon and push for his impeachment. It is crucial for you to understand that South Korea is currently heavily left-leaning. The media, influenced by Chinese capital, continuously spreads false propaganda against President Yoon. Martial law is a legal authority the president can exercise during a state of emergency. Furthermore, the major opposition party, which holds nearly two-thirds of the seats in parliament, is actively working to remove the president. They have slashed critical budgets, raised their own salaries, and increased funding for projects favored by China. They have also attempted to impeach 22 government officials, effectively rendering the president powerless and unable to take meaningful actions. Conservative citizens in Korea are determined to fight against the pro-communist leftists until the end. Please share this situation with people in the United States and let President Trump know that President Yun is fighting to expose election fraud, just as President Trump did, and will continue to do so until the truth is revealed Thank you. pls check my channel 's video

[@hemjoo]

Insightful. Thank you for this. I appreciate historical context being given to help explain significance of what's going on now

[@joeelliott2157]

The people of South Korea are great. We Americans need to use them as our role model.

[@Mk101T]

Or they need to forget USA influence and see what else they have ?

[@GeeHanShin]

@Mk101T trust me, we will be more powerful than ever

[@shinobi2119]

@@joeelliott2157 no, North Korea is better.

[@TheWorld4all]

@@Mk101T What influence is that?? Hamburgers and being rude?

[@Mk101T]

@@TheWorld4all Revisiting their ties with the north .

[@jansenaymes6782]

Gosh it's kind of funny and at the same time irony that in the name of greed, vanity, guilt and being shady, he has the nerve of using North Korea as scapegoat to justify his call for martial law. How more corrupt and screwed up he is to do this? Just impeach and throw his wife in jail first followed by him. 😔😔

[@henrycue-e9o]

informative!

[@Ahsankhan-ko4wo]

Well done korean. You show that how civilized nation your.

[@apeke7297]

the 6 hour martial law, shows alot more than highlighted, it says one important thing about south korea, their main problem is not the low birth rate, it clearly highlighted the inability of south korea to defense herself in case of an attack. in hindsight, this may look cool and wow, but politically, it is brutal. 1) when a society has shows that they have more power than than their leader, it leaves door to. it is easier to manupulate a power hold by the society than a leader whose everything is on the line 2) division among people, when there is a division among people the soceity has fall 3) big win for north korea, north korea has being showing and sending signs of threat, when their president now told them they are in danger they beleive no it can not be, let just say, there is a real danger, do any one think, this are the people who will and are ready to defend? certainly not! 4) south koreans are ready to let go of their freedom entirely, than to sacrifice a little of their freedom to clearly see what is going on. i am pretty sure north koreans are laughing hard right now. 5) people are even calling a coup, now who is stuck in the old century is it the north or the south. whether it is a coup or not does not matter, the fact is clear, the citizens who no nothing about politics, their political relation, the internal things, appears have more power than their leaders. if that is the case there is no reason why there should be a president.6) and last but not least those who they train the military for monthS, have been proven to be NOTHING, one amin rule in military is to heed commands, but id those who were TRAINED to heed command, are not heeding? trouble is near. this is the people who will be defending the country in case of war, if they can not heed the command of a PRESIDENT, WhOSE COMMAND WOULD THEY HEED?

[@markusrobinson3858]

Very informative presentation by your interviewee. Well done! - Markus Robinson, Tunkhannock Pennsylvania USA

[@henrypollard4906]

Good interview and good guest

[@fatimahm2721]

A very comprehensive and multi-faceted discussion. The host is so pretty

[@MalikaBilal]

😊 Thank you for watching, commenting, and complimenting!

[@ericrainden704]

Great interview & explanations of what happened in South Korea 👍

[@AuthorMichelleC]

Really great interview

[@helenk5579]

Excellent video! Very interesting and indepth

[@neznameythaler1910]

Dynamic power of people,indeed

[@ytn00b3]

People wanted change, so they're elected Yoon because he was different and people expected "change" and different style, but instead Yoon backstab his people for his own greed and even made change for getting friendly with Japan rather than making change for people of Korea and good for Korea, all he was good for Japan, and then people started noticing he wasn't normal, they see him as clown and dumb f0unded - his popularity and approval rating plummeted well below 19%, just before this political saga his approval rating reached all time low to 17%.

[@manwell235]

I read that one of his election manifestos was to restore male dominance in the South Korean society. That manifesto won him enough votes from the far rights to let him slimly won the presidency.

[@ytn00b3]

@@manwell235 No. That's purely biased objective. Yoon promised to abolished Woman's Right ministry (which is now part of family planning ministry) and Yoon only won it by less than 1%. And he also failed to remove Woman's Right ministry. He only said that to win extra votes from Far Right groups.

[@manwell235]

@@ytn00b3 oh, so he promised women would get no equal rights under his presidency to win votes from male dominated far right groups?

[@texasranger4138]

I wouldn't hold my breath on his impeachment. The Republic of Korea will survive under Yoon.

[@manwell235]

@@texasranger4138 he aint trump though cos even his own party is abandoning him

[@junelawrence6227]

Very informative and your guest gave an excellent explanation of what actually happened. I wanted to hear from him why the President made the decision.

[@bbd121]

After watching 5 videos on why the president decided to declare Martial law, I still have no idea why the president decided to declare Martial law.

[@Pro-vc7bw]

Not a chaos. Road to democracy.😊

[@mylafsg]

Thank you for this info. I pray for things to be alright in South Korea (among other countries that are now in turmoil).

[@KittyCEwert]

This is pretty much what is happening in Taiwan right now😢 The ruling party DPP already detained the chair of the country's third largest political party (TPP), and the DPP also announced it's support to the South Korean's martial law as the news broke out. They only took the announcement down after they started receiving angry feedback from the South Koreans and the Japanese. Please consider making a video about how democracy is slowly dying under the mob of DPP in Taiwan 🙏 🙏 🙏There is going to be a protest held by the TPP this afternoon (12/7) in Taipei. Please help to spread the news.

[@UhuruFrontier]

This is ridiculous. North and South Korea is one country split by foreign forces. It's one country. Join together to become stronger.

[@texasranger4138]

The people are one country. The leader in the north and the sympathizers in the south want the people devided.

[@mmxcix]

Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

[@DareMind]

As South Korea emerges from this dark chapter, it's time for the nation to channel this experience into strengthening its democratic foundations. The country has repeatedly demonstrated its resilience in the face of adversity, and this moment presents an opportunity to fortify its democratic institutions further. South Korea's vibrant civil society and engaged citizenry can transform this crisis into a catalyst for positive change, ensuring such challenges to democratic principles never emerge again.

[@reza8006611]

South Korea has always been a model of progress, freedom and democracy for us as Iranians. I'm sure nobody in Iran wants to see its failure....

[@thinhtayaye2843]

I believe in people's power to overcome any obstacles.

[@R_Priest]

As an American client state hosting the largest US military base outside America, the sitting president just decided to declare martial law and pull a coup without coordination with his bosses in Washington. Very credible.

[@Samperor]

@@R_Priest his bosses in Washington?

[@hourbee5535]

At least they are in better shape than Syria.

[@1000OtherFoxes]

Ya who are funding these "rebels" do you know how many groups were funded by the west....

[@J316Tentmakers]

December 5th 5:16 PM EST - Quick update from South Korea: On Dec 3rd, when martial law was declared, President Yoon sent five troops (400) to the Central Election Office, which oversees general and federal elections. This unit operates independently; even the Attorney General cannot interfere with this part of the government. The only way the president can intervene is under martial law. This explains why martial law was rescinded just 6 hours after it was declared. Yoon sent only one troop (100) to the parliament (which many people believe was for show), but four times more were dispatched to the Central Election Office. Sources report that they secured the server and ransacked the place. It’s important to note that a significant majority of the Korean parliament are members of liberal parties, who oppose President Yoon (a conservative president). They were planning to impeach him, especially since the general election was held in April. To be continued...

[@Amacott99]

Beyond imagination. Let’s hope for a future with great change!

[@robertthorn184]

Brilliant. Thank you.

[@Irreverent9]

I liked the guest - pensive and well-spoken.

[@darkenmarr_arts]

My question is why.... was he doing it to draw attention from something else?

[@josearaujo8616]

Still nobody has explained the WHY? WHY not HOW. We already know the how, but the why is still a mistery.

[@osoree7048]

To protect his wife from going to jail, and himself

[@Riny_hj]

@@osoree7048 also probably to put off his impeachment

[@manuelaebensberger2326]

There are some theories by people who actually live there in the comments but I guess we will never know the whole truth of WHY

[@theoneeyedshaman6884]

The desperation of empire has no end!

[@Sunny-f2o]

Meanwhile Kim: "I didn't even do anything yet..."

[@komboblast4044]

I want to visit Korea next year. Martial law declared days ago in Korea, kind of worries me because I think it will happen again no matter who is in power. 😢😢😢

[@dgpark3362]

Don't worry. it will finish within this year.

[@horroRomantic444]

Martial law was only declared by conservative governments and military juntas. Democratic politicians since 1987 never declared martial law.

[@seanryu7845]

Very nice clip. The self coup is self explanatory. All is unconstitutional and unlawful. We're mature enough to make it back on the right track.

[@Pearla-YL]

They deployed 685 soldiers, is this a joke? If the citizens hadn't gathered quickly, a coup would have occurred.

[@texasranger4138]

You can't have a couple against yourself 😂😅😊.

[@Pearla-YL]

@texasranger4138 In Korea, the people who are against it are mostly old people and a minority. And now they are all being punished and soldiers have even declared their conscience.

[@manwell235]

@@texasranger4138 coup, not couple. You clearly have no idea about South Korean past dictators

[@louistan7560]

😊there is no chaos. Other than in the vocabulary of the media.

[@mjkim6262]

@@louistan7560 exactly..

[@michelleyun4215]

People need to remember the martial laws imposed in the 80s and the traumatic results from those years. My parents and grandparents remember their days in Gwangju. I vividly remember 2014, the sinking of Sewol; 2017, the impeachment of Park; and all the corruptions this current “conservative” party, Yoon and his wife, the mega churches are doing and bringing to this country. It is sad to see these events rising in my home country and everything that’s been building up - we need to stay awake and discern what is true and false. It is unconstitutional to declare a martial law. We dont have to be lawyers or prosecutors to know that. And today we remember, the current political party failed to meet their roles as politicians, as elected officials of this country, by simply excluding and withdrawing themselves from the assembly during today’s voting process. People are in great distress.

[@thethirdcrouch]

i didn't know south korea even had a similar political conservative scenario

[@GossipswithEunice]

I think he wanted to hold on to power indefinitely.

[@futureglobal7258]

Sounds like a Day One dictator I’ve seen in the news recently.

[@manwell235]

Sounds like an incompetent leader under the thumb of his wife. We have a similar former leader in my country named Najib Razak who is now in jail for all his corrupt shenanigans

[@texasranger4138]

That's exactly what the fake news media says about President Trump 😂😅😊. Keep the faith President Yoon.

[@futureglobal7258]

@ whenever someone says “fake news”, you know they’re in a cult.

[@manwell235]

@@texasranger4138 you aint a ranger or even from texas, so you are fake too?

[@lafayetteo9235]

Sure, most of what you say is about older people, but you can't explain the situation for those in their 20s and 30s who support Yun. Why? Because you didn’t explain why the opposition party is failing right now and they also do their best to hide their party leader's crimes, block the budget for no reason what so ever

[@lafayetteo9235]

This situation is a fight between people who don’t want either of the two foolish individuals for their leader. So bascially South Korea has no really leader for 6 months at least. No one could't have sad it better. if you want any change in korea do your act now~ it's an only chance given

[@paulwalther5237]

I think he was inspired by the Trump victory in the US and wanted to show that he is a strong leader too. I'm so happy the people whose job it is to actually enforce these orders from above were "unenthusiastic" and more about making a show of following through without really doing so. This bodes well for the future of democracy everywhere.

[@manwell235]

The big difference between Trump and Yoon is Trump actually got about half the country behind him judging from his election win while Yoon is deeply unpopular even among the conservatives, with his approval rating at just 20%.

[@manuelaebensberger2326]

Very much agree with you ❤

[@texasranger4138]

The demonrats are the ones that took a page out of bidens and the demonrats playbook. They'll do anything to regain power from conservatives. I wouldn't hold my breath on impeachment 😂😅😊.

[@karennamm]

Seoul not in Chaos but in Dispute.

[@apeke7297]

the 6 hour martial law, shows alot more than highlighted, it says one important thing about south korea, their main problem is not the low birth rate, it clearly highlighted the inability of south korea to defense herself in case of an attack. in hindsight, this may look cool and wow, but politically, it is brutal. 1) when a society has shows that they have more power than than their leader, it leaves door to. it is easier to manupulate a power hold by the society than a leader whose everything is on the line 2) division among people, when there is a division among people the soceity has fall 3) big win for north korea, north korea has being showing and sending signs of threat, when their president now told them they are in danger they beleive no it can not be, let just say, there is a real danger, do any one think, this are the people who will and are ready to defend? certainly not! 4) south koreans are ready to let go of their freedom entirely, than to sacrifice a little of their freedom to clearly see what is going on. i am pretty sure north koreans are laughing hard right now. 5) people are even calling a coup, now who is stuck in the old century is it the north or the south. whether it is a coup or not does not matter, the fact is clear, the citizens who no nothing about politics, their political relation, the internal things, appears have more power than their leaders. if that is the case there is no reason why there should be a president.6) and last but not least those who they train the military for monthS, have been proven to be NOTHING, one amin rule in military is to heed commands, but id those who were TRAINED to heed command, are not heeding? trouble is near. this is the people who will be defending the country in case of war, if they can not heed the command of a PRESIDENT, WhOSE COMMAND WOULD THEY HEED?

[@slimm7145]

Moral of the story: never make fun of your neighbour ... You may end up like them. And stay away from the bandits in the White House...

[@Mk101T]

And what neighborhood do you live in ?

[@Northstar1989]

South Korea "may end up like them." You should actually learn your history. For generations, South Korea was a tyrannical Military Dictatorship that falsely called itself a "Republic" (actually, each successive regime gave its "republic" a new number- "second republic, third republic" etc.) while employing brutal tactics including mass imprisonment and Death Squads. It wasn't until the 1980's, as the journalist correctly points out in the first few minutes, that South Korea actually developed real electoral democracy (over the objections of the US government, which called protests for democracy nothing but a front for "Communism" early on, and only later changed stances to save face...) That democracy has been fragile, and in constant danger from counter-revolution ever since. It's really jot surprising some scumbag would, only 40 years later, try to return South Korea back to the bad old days of military dictatorship. Though the nation has really made far less progress in that time than they pretend (for propaganda purposes: strikers still get beaten by police and arrested en masses when their strikes are regularly called illegal, for instance: as if striking wasn't a basic human right...) what progress HAS been made is still too much for some reactionaries in South Korea...

[@Talkwithtina808]

That president is out of pocket!!! Disrespectful

[@xingxing85]

It is so shocking to see that South Korea is such a politically unstable country. 😢this confusion is so unnecessary

[@farahhana9785]

If u watched The Whirland, u know there will be things coming from right or left just hopefully doesn’t come to that same ending 😂 Ok jokes aside, thanks for this content much easier to understand than some others.

[@cptr]

No exploration on why marshal law was called!!!

[@alexmanly8666]

What about the Pinoys in Korea this Christmas season during vacation because of martial law in Korea.

[@alsosprachZarathustra-fi2pm]

Great video! In the meanwhile, NJ are rebranding themselves as NewJeanz--replacing 's' with 'z.' Are they out of their mind (if they have any)? So they really wish to be independent from Ador--but have they moved out of the penthouse (that Ador pays for)? Are they paying for their own meals? Have they hired their own staff?

[@cheersmodreams691]

Democratic instability is growing globally. Washington could not say 'stop this silliness' because Washington itself was under siege by the same silliness.

[@George-ey4lx]

Life is good LG.

[@jimanhwang5988]

We need King Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani as a new president of South Korea.

[@changboni]

N. Korea should focus on building themselves up, instead of on 'reunification' with the South. Start by renaming themselves as the People's Republic of Goguryeo, Goguryeo being the ancient name of that region now known as N. Korea.

[@sandraford1107]

January 6th in South Korea 🧐

[@leaalia2394]

The President didn't have enough ENABLERS around him. That's what happened.

[@demaskatorr]

[@helenkay7392]

Emergency Marshall law was a difficult decision for the South Korean President to declare. But he felt that it was still necessary to bring stability and security to the country.

[@lynnkim6492]

Everything is so quick in South Korea 😂

[@SazalibinkamsirSazali-zu5yo]

im want Tiece or Quartet only must done.

[@bbvistas7596]

Didn't they just need to go in and collect documents or evidence that may be used against him? Something was accomplished.

[@icebreaker8682]

wow now I know

[@Bitshiftyonit]

Does he know?

[@Ivanka-oh4xo]

Good business for printing company 😅 they printed leaflets so fast,for 24 hours i saw 2 different color😂

[@begood9423]

The cause was the USA interfering as always is domestic and foreign policies of other counties

[@Thomes-Maisling]

This begs the questions. - Why would USA risk being discovered interfering with the democratic process of an ally nation? - What are the indications or proof this was USA interference? - Do you know something the rest of us don't or are you just making baseless speculations? - Is not common corruption a more likely explanation? Please answer. I'll wait...............................

[@yeasirarafat9110]

True, they destroyed our whole country Bangladesh. And we learned from Afghanistan, iran, iraq thing, they are going to make our country chaos. It's already in chaos.

[@nataliedoyle4701]

There is indeed a pattern of interference. Trump's re-election is scaring the military Industrial complex and security agencies. We know that the insurrection in Syria by an Islamist group funded by the US and Israel aided by Turkey is to weaken Assad's rule whose crime is to have long standing diplomatic relations with Russia, the bogeyman denounced by neocons whenever things don't go their way (Russiagate...) . And now, we have another attempt to return to the good old days of the cold war with their attempts to resurrect the fear of North Korea. As this Koren journalist explains, it still works with the older generation but the younger generations are more receptive to what the 2018, North Korea- Unites Stats summit chaired by Trump represented, the use of diplomatic negotiations.

[@StefanoDallAgata]

Why? He is loco.

[@EdL-m3b]

One of the best explanation by a Korean poster: "As a Korean, I would like to elaborate on worst things that dems in Korea have been doing that possibly lead to the martial law so far. (current parliament out of 300 seats, 180 seat is taken by dems which means they have 100% control over almost everything) 1) Refuse to update the law against spy: government wanted to update the law against spy to not only cover N.korea but also other countries with prime example being China as they could be working together. Dems have repeately refused to update this law. 2) Update the most absurd government budget every known: They reduced the budget of president's office, prosecution office and police office down by 100%, literally 0$. I'll explain the reasoning behind this on my next point. Not only that, They reduced budget placed for safety of ppl and wellbeing by substantial amount. 3) Most impeachments ever in the history of this country: You have to know abt Jae-myeong Lee (the leader of Dem party). He has been under numerous investigations for many years now. The list is very long but the most important ones are violations of election law, connection with gangsters, perjury, corruption and Remittance to North Korea. President Yoon really wanted to give him justice so he put lots of effort into Lee's investigation. Dems have Initiated impeachment proceedings against 22 government officials, and after they won the 180 seats in the parliament, they forcefully impeached 10 more ppl. The list included more than 7 inspectors, Minister of Public Administration and Security, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, Auditor General and Minister of Defense. Just to run down the country and protect Lee to make him the next president. 4) Connection with North Korea: Members of dem and MANY of labour party including higher ups (they are basically a team here in Korea) were actively caught spying for North Korea. Some of them actually got caught meeting North Korean party members secretly overseas. 5) Refuse to pass any law and objects literally anything that would benefit the country just for the sake of putting down Yoon's rating I understand Left and Right have different roles and idealogy but one thing that must be common is for the benefit of the country and the people. What dems in Korea have been doing is to literally run down the country just so that ppl would hate Yoon, thus win the next election or impeach him to gain power again." S. Korea being close to China and with a pro-US stance it's a good place to practice for China. What's happening in South Korea may eventually happen in the US. And actually it did happen in the US 2020 election. Election flipped to favor Beijing Biden like it did with former president Moon Jae-in who is a China shill. Culprit in both cases? Communist China!

[@d.bcooper2271]

So there are people in S Korea?

[@marieconstantia4441]

I don’t think North Korea had much to do with this.

[@Vince-p5l]

I fear that our President ( Trump ) would do the same comes 2028. Only in the US the majority of congress will surely sided with him and so will the courts. If martial law is declare in the US it will not ended like South Korea because our congress is more extreme and would definitely allow martial law to take effect. Democracy in the US is not as stable as South Korean.

[@VivianKreimer]

Nothing is accidentally. The president of SOUTH KOREA totally. SUPPORT THE USA and this was planned long ago by the USA , NATO and the Korean president Bravo to the young KOREANS PRO DEMOCRACY. AND FOR. PEACE NOBODY WANTS WAR. BRASIL. FOR PEACE 🇧🇷🇧🇷 This was the first failure of the Empire😊

[@infinitimeinfinitime358]

Good primer, but the host's lack of even a rudimentary understanding of the Korean political system/post-war history significantly hampers the caliber of the interview. Feels like being interviewed for the school paper... I feel sorry for the guest.

[@윤진-r3w]

As a Korean who has observed him for a long time, I now know that he is not strange, but strange and he was hiding it. He is just a psycho who wants to be king The interview was great.

[@Teisharocz]

No, no, no, and f no!!!!