In South Korea, the president’s attempted coup failed

A rally condemns South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s statements on martial law and calls for his resignation, at the National Assembly, South Korea, December 4. KIM HONG-JI / REUTERS South Korean democracy has refused to be defeated. In the middle of the night from Tuesday December 3 to Wednesday December 4, 190 deputies from the majority and the opposition, supported by an angry crowd gathered in front of a National Assembly surrounded by police and soldiers, unanimously rejected the law martial decreed a few hours earlier by the conservative president, Yoon Suk Yeol. Mr. Yoon accepted the decision and pitifully ended his attempted coup, which saw South Korea return for a few hours to the nightmare of the days of dictatorships, which it believed had passed for almost forty years. The last time martial law was imposed was in 1980 in Gwangju (South). On the orders of authoritarian President Chun Doo-hwan (1980-1987), the paratroopers violently repressed a pro-democracy movement. The operation left hundreds dead. Admitting defeat, Yoon reiterated his call for the National Assembly to put an end to “scandalous” activities that he said are paralyzing government functions. The president, faced with demonstrations, is now threatened with dismissal. His main aides, including his chief of staff, Chung Jin-suk, and his national security adviser, Shin Won-sik, have resigned. The general staff sent the troops back to their barracks. Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers In South Korea, democracy threatened by the populist excesses of Yoon Suk Yeol Read later The rule of law prevailed and the affair ended, without major incident, after six hours of high tensions in the South Korean capital. “We are relieved that President Yoon retracted his statement and respected the vote of the National Assembly,” Washington responded. Democracy is the foundation of the alliance between the United States and South Korea, and we will continue to monitor developments. » Armed soldiers Mr. Yoon declared martial law on Tuesday at 10:25 p.m. from his presidential office in the Yongsan-gu district of Seoul. “The Republic of Korea [nom officiel de la Corée du Sud] is like a candle in the wind; it can turn off at any time. I declare martial law to protect it from threats by North Korean communist forces, to eradicate pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are brazenly destroying the freedom and happiness of our people, and to protect our free constitutional order,” he justified. He criticized the parliamentary opposition for opposing his draft budget and for having voted to dismiss the director of the Audit and Inspection Council, responsible for auditing public services. You have 70.22% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.



Source link