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A historic day: North and South Korea pledge to sign formal peace treaty

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It's finally happened. An extraordinary sight of Kim Jong Un crossing the DMZ to shake hands with his counterpart and both leaders with a joint statement outside Peace House.

South Korea's left leaning President Moon Jae-in, a former student activist who opposed the military dictatorship and former human rights lawyer, has worked on Korean reunification and the peace process his entire life. Hopefully he'll get the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts whilst Kim Jong Un also deserves credit for making a huge symbolic statement here. Hopefully the start of a new beginning for these two countries.

However, while the countries have committed to "denuclearisation" of the peninsula - there is no clarity as to the definition of it. North Korea have repeatedly stated they do not want to become another Iraq or Libya.

Something more realistic would be to sign a formal peace treaty which has been pledged by the two leaders to occur by the end of the year. Technically, the two countries are still at war having only signed an armistice in 1953.

Other positive steps include setting up a joint liaison office, addressing the issue of divided families and Moon will visit Pyongyang later this year.
 
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Here's a transcript of what they said when they met for the first time:

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/04/27/...at-they-said-intl/index.html?no-st=1524822523

Kim: I'm glad to meet you. I'm so glad.

Moon: Was there any difficulty coming here?

Kim: Not at all.

Moon: It's a pleasure to meet you.

Kim: Indeed, I'm so filled with excitement because of the meeting at this historic site. And I was truly moved that you have come all the way to receive me at the Military Demarcation Line at Panmunjom.

Moon: It was your bold and courageous decision that has allowed us to come this far.

Kim: No, no, not at all.

Moon: We have made a historic moment.

Kim: I am pleased to meet you.

Moon: Would you please stand on this side.

Moon: You have come to the south side, when will I be able to come to the North?

Kim: Maybe this is the right time for you to enter the North Korean territory.
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This is a positive sign and we should welcome this. It will be great once we get more detail as to what they actually wish to achieve by 'denuclearisation' and how it should be carried out.
 
MenInG said:
feel like crying....

If only Pakistan and India could do this....
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Let's not count our chickens before they hatch.

We can take a call at how this has panned out 2 years from now.
 
MenInG said:
feel like crying....

If only Pakistan and India could do this....
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We have tried this before..,Lahore bus tour by Vajapayee...Kargil hallowed next...

Until unless Pakistan ruled by only one entity peace is not possible,best option to stay away as neutrals.
 
Varun said:
Let's not count our chickens before they hatch.

We can take a call at how this has panned out 2 years from now.
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One of the Kim’s promise about not using tests sites for nuclear tests is turned out that site itself is no longer usable due to damage :)
 
Loralai said:
This is a positive sign and we should welcome this. It will be great once we get more detail as to what they actually wish to achieve by 'denuclearisation' and how it should be carried out.
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Why should NK denuclearise?

This is a good step by the North Korean leader who studied in Switzlerland. He dropped a missiles in the to the sea, a few over Japan to give him some leverage in peace talks.

Trump is taking credit for this but it has little to do with him. If he's expecting NK to end its nuclear programme he is a bigger fool than what we think already.
 
Good for them. They saved their countries from unnecessary war, at least that’s what it seems like for now. Their relationship should further improve unless Trump makes the nukes an issue of ego. Trump is like Beghani shadi mein abdullah dewana.
 
I personally believe nk will disarm as well

I think you will eventually see it go the Burma route towards democracy and eventually reunite with s Korea

I think s Korea will have to play a big role to persuade Kim Jong un
 
South Koreas passport is ranked #2 in the world after Singapore. A united Korea will benefit NK immensely. Maybe Kim is coming to his senses.
 
Unexpected but great news. As not long ago, there was much rhetoric about nuclear obliteration and whatnot.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING: Kim Jong-Un has agreed to meet President Trump at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas.</p>— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) <a href="https://twitter.com/RyanAFournier/status/991409544680132608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2018</a></blockquote>
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South Korea imposed sanctions on eight North Koreans linked to nuclear and missile development through arms trade, cyberattacks and other illicit activities, Seoul's foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

The sanctions came days after North Korea fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which South Korea and the United States strongly condemned as a grave violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The newly blacklisted people include Ri Chang Ho, head of the Reconnaissance General Bureau involved in overseas hacking operations, and Yun Chol, who helped supply nuclear materials while working at the North Korean Embassy in China, the ministry said.

"The eight were involved in generating profits for the North Korean regime and financing nuclear weapons and missiles development by earning foreign currency through illegal cyber activities or stealing technology and trading sanctioned goods including weapons," it said in a statement.

Amid a prolonged stalemate at the U.N., Seoul has slapped sanctions against Pyongyang independently or together with Washington and Tokyo, seeking to squeeze its funding sources.

South Korea has blacklisted 83 individuals and 53 entities related to North Korea's weapons programmes since October 2022.

Source: Reuters

 

North Korea Fires Artillery Near Border With South Korea​

North Korea fired 200 rounds of artillery into waters near its disputed western sea border with South Korea on Friday, a move that prompted the South’s military to ask residents on two nearby islands to take shelter.

The shells fell north of the disputed border, known as the Northern Limit Line, between 9 and 11 a.m., and caused no damage, South Korean officials said.

The South’s military accused the North of “threatening peace and raising tensions” and vowed to take “corresponding measures.” Hours after, it said that it responded to the North’s provocation by firing its own artillery shells into waters south of the disputed border.

As the South Korean military prepared to conduct its firing exercise, it asked people on the islands of Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong to seek shelter beginning at noon, island officials said. Ferries that were scheduled to leave from Incheon, a port west of Seoul, the South Korean capital, to the islands on Friday afternoon were also canceled.

“The military here asked us to help evacuate people in case the North might fire back when it started its own drill,” said Ji Young-hyeon, a government official on Yeonpyeong. “So we are sending out a broadcast every 30 minutes asking people to take shelter.”

People living on the island are wary of North Korean provocations, especially after the North launched an artillery and rocket barrage on the island in 2010 that killed two South Korean civilians and two marines there. In retaliation, the South pounded the North Korean shore across the water with artillery.

Residents on the islands have grown accustomed to orders to leave their homes and evacuate to underground shelters. The islands are dotted with underground and concrete shelters, and such orders are often issued during military drills or when North Korea has launched its rockets to the south.

The North’s artillery firing came a day after the South Korean and United States militaries finished a weeklong joint live-fire military drill in Pocheon, north of Seoul, on Thursday that involved artillery, tanks, armored vehicles and A-10 Warthog planes. North Korea had vowed retaliation on Thursday, calling its enemies “mad dogs” who “will only suffer the most painful moments.”

Source: New York Times

www.nytimes.com

North Korea Fires Artillery Near Border With South Korea

The South asked nearby islanders to seek shelter before it launched a military exercise in the disputed waters and chided the North for “threatening peace.”
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
 

South Korea vows 'unendurable' response to North's trash balloons​


South Korea said on Sunday it would take "unendurable" measures against North Korea for sending trash balloons over the border, which could include blaring propaganda from loudspeakers back at the North.

The announcement from President Yoon Suk Yeol's office followed a meeting by his National Security Council on a response to what Seoul said were more than 700 balloons carrying trash that Pyongyang sent over the heavily fortified border to rile its rival neighbour.

The council condemned the balloons and GPS jamming as an "irrational act of provocation".

Seoul did not rule out resuming the loudspeaker blasts, which it stopped in 2018 after a rare summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a senior official at Yoon's office told reporters.

The democratic South and the communist North technically remain at war since the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty. Seoul is a firm US ally whose sophisticated military regularly holds drills with the US, while Pyongyang is developing missile and nuclear technology that Seoul and Washington say violates UN resolutions.

North Korea has said its balloons were in retaliation for a propaganda campaign by North Korean defectors and activists in South Korea, who regularly send inflatables containing anti-Pyongyang leaflets, food, medicine, money and USB sticks loaded with K-pop music videos and dramas across the border.

The North Korean balloons carrying garbage such as cigarette butts, cloth, paper waste and plastic were found across the capital Seoul from 8 p.m. on Saturday to 1 p.m. on Sunday (1100 GMT on Saturday to 0400 GMT on Sunday), South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

It said the military was monitoring the starting point and conducting aerial reconnaissance to track down and collect the balloons, which have large bags of trash suspended beneath them.

South Korean officers with rifles were picking up and bagging what appeared to be trash from the balloons in cordoned-off areas, local media footage showed.

North Korea on Wednesday sent hundreds of balloons carrying trash and what was labelled as manure across the border as what it called "gifts of sincerity". Seoul responded angrily, calling the move base and dangerous.

North Korea has not commented on the weekend balloons.

South Korean Defence Minister Shin Won-sik told US Defense Secretary Austin Lloyd at a conference in Singapore on Sunday that the balloons violated the armistice agreement, according to South Korea's military.

The two reaffirmed a coordinated response to any North Korean threats and provocations based on the South Korea-US alliance's combined defence posture, it said.

Emergency alerts were issued in North Gyeongsang and Gangwon provinces and some parts of Seoul on Sunday, urging people not to come into contact with the balloons and to alert police.

Reuters
 
South Korea fired warning shots after North Korea border crossing

South Korea's military fired warning shots after around 20 North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the border at the weekend, Seoul officials said, amid a recent rise in tension over Pyongyang's launch of balloons carrying trash into the South.

The breach occurred at around 12:30 p.m. (0330 GMT) on Sunday when the North Korean troops in the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas crossed the military demarcation line, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said on Tuesday.

JCS spokesman Colonel Lee Sung-jun said the military did not consider the breach to be intentional as the area was densely forested, obscuring border markings or any roads.

"They headed north immediately after our military's warning broadcasts and warning shots, and there were no unusual movements," he told a briefing.

Yonhap news agency, citing an unnamed JCS official, reported the troops were mostly carrying pick axes and other tools, and appeared to have become lost.

The incident came as the North has sent thousands of balloons containing trash in recent days to the South, including some 600 over the weekend, calling it a "gift" for North Korean defectors and South Korean campaigners who have flown balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets and aid parcels in the other direction over the border.

Seoul suspended a 2018 inter-Korean military pact and resumed military activities around the border, including reinstalling loudspeaker broadcasts, calling Pyongyang's action "base and dangerous."

The South Korean military has previously fired warning shots at North Korean soldiers crossing the border, but most such incidents took place around the maritime border which Pyongyang has disputed.

The two Koreas are still technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.

REUTERS
 
South Korea makes N Korean defector vice minister

Former North Korean diplomat Tae Yong-ho has been named the new leader of South Korea's presidential advisory council on unification.

This makes him the highest-ranking defector among the thousands who have resettled in the South - and the first to be given a vice-ministerial job.

Tae, 62, was Pyongyang's deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom before he fled to South Korea in 2016.

Pyongyang has denounced him as "human scum" and accused him of embezzling state funds and other crimes.

Mr Tae became the first former North Korean to win a seat in South Korea's 2020 National Assembly.

He failed to secure a second term in parliamentary elections in April, but in his new role, he will be be advising South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's office on peaceful Korean unification.

"He is the right person to help establish a peaceful unification policy based on liberal democracy and garner support from home and abroad," the presidential office said on Thursday.

Born in Pyongyang in 1962, Mr Tae entered the foreign service at the age of 27 and spent almost 30 years working under three generations of the ruling Kim dynasty.

He said in earlier statements that he left North Korea because he did not want his children to have "miserable lives". He also cited disgust with Kim Jong Un's regime and expressed admiration for South Korea's democracy.

In a memoir published this year, Mr Tae wrote about the excesses of the North Korean elite and the depths of the personality cult built around the Kims.

Since his defection, he has advocated for the use of "soft power" to weaken the Kim regime and called for prisoner swaps between the North and the South.

Tensions between the Koreas have risen over the past few months, with Seoul resuming propaganda broadcasts towards the North on Friday, in response to Pyongyang floating thousands of trash-carrying balloons into the South.

Reports based on satellite imagery also suggest that North Korea may be strengthening its military presence and building walls along its border with the South.

As of December last year, some 34,000 individuals have defected from the North to the South, according to estimates from Seoul's Unification Ministry.

Many do so by crossing into China and then to South Korea. In South Korea, they automatically receive citizenship and are given some resettlement money.

Earlier this week, Seoul's spy agency cofirmed another high-profile defection of a former diplomat most recently stationed in Cuba.

Local reports identified the man as 52-year-old Ri Il Kyu and quoted him as saying that he fled because of "disillusionment with the North Korean regime and a bleak future".

"Every North Korean thinks at least once about living in South Korea," the Chosun Ilbo newspaper quoted him as saying.

Last Sunday, South Korea marked its very first North Korean Defectors' Day, during which Mr Yoon Suk Yeol promised better financial support for defectors and tax incentives for companies that hire them.

BBC
 
Trash balloons land near S Korea president's office

Balloons carrying rubbish sent by North Korea have landed in South Korea's presidential compound in the capital city of Seoul, say officials.

It is the first time the South Korean leader's office, which is a designated no-fly zone, has been hit by balloons launched by Pyongyang.

A chemical, biological and radiological warfare response team was sent to collect the balloons, the presidential security service said.

They were found to pose no contamination or safety risk.

According to a news report by local news site Yonhap, the military did not shoot down the balloons as they feared it would cause their contents to spread further.

The balloons also landed in other parts of Seoul, with officials telling residents to avoid touching the balloons and to "report them to the nearest military unit or police station".

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff told Reuters that with wind blowing from the west, balloons aimed at the South were likely to land in the northern Gyeonggi province, the country's most populous province, where the capital city is located.

The latest incident comes days after South Korea's military reacted to the escalating launches by restarting propaganda broadcasts from loudspeakers along the border.

North and South Korea have both used balloons in their propaganda campaigns since the Korean War in the 1950s.

The launches have escalated this year, with thousands of balloons being sent by the North across the border since May.

Wednesday's balloons marked the North's tenth launch this year, in what it claims is retaliation for balloons sent by South Korean activists.

These allegedly contained anti-Pyongyang leaflets, alongside food, medicine, money and USB sticks loaded with K-pop videos and dramas.

BBC
 

North Korean resident crosses South Korean sea border to defect: Yonhap​


A North Korean has defected to the South across a de facto maritime border in the Yellow Sea, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported Thursday.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans have fled to South Korea since the peninsula was divided by war in the 1950s.

The latest defection comes as relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years, with the North ramping up weapons testing and bombarding the South with trash-carrying balloons.

“1 N. Korean defects across maritime border in Yellow Sea: military,” the agency said in a one-line report.

Other South Korean local media reported Thursday that two North Koreans attempted to defect to the South through the border island of Gyodong, less than five kilometers (3.1 miles) from North Korea.

The South Korean military has only secured one of them, the reports said.

Most defectors go overland to neighboring China first, then enter a third country such as Thailand before finally making it to the South.

The number of successful escapes dropped significantly from 2020 after the North sealed its borders -- purportedly with shoot-on-sight orders along the land frontier with China -- to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

But the number of defectors making it to the South almost tripled last year to 196, Seoul said in January, with more elite diplomats and students seeking to escape, up from 67 in 2022.

‘Unhappy with the North’s system’

The North Korean crossed the “neutral zone of the Han River estuary located west of the inter-Korean land border” and then arrived at South Korea’s Gyodong island, Yonhap reported Thursday, citing unnamed military sources.

South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik told a parliamentary committee that an investigation was “underway by the relevant authorities,” according to the Yonhap report.

The incident is the first time in 15 months since a North Korean defected to South Korea through the Yellow Sea.

In May 2023, a family of nine escaped the North using a wooden boat.

Experts say defectors have likely been impacted by harsh living conditions, including food shortages and inadequate responses to natural disasters, while living in the isolated North.

“North Korea has suffered severe flood damage recently and has caused a lot of damage in other areas as well, including parts of the city,” Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Korean peninsula strategy at Sejong Institute, told AFP.

“It is possible that the people who were unhappy with the North Korean system may have used this internal instability and confusion to defect.”

Heavy rainfall hit the North’s northern regions in late July, with South Korean media reporting a possible death toll of up to 1,500 people.

Pyongyang treats defections as a serious crime and is believed to hand harsh punishments to transgressors, their families and even people tangentially linked to the incident.

South Korea has responded to the North’s increased weapons testing and trash-carrying ballon bombardments this year by resuming propaganda broadcasts along the border, suspending a tension-reducing military deal and restarting live-fire drills near the border.

 
North Korean GPS manipulation disrupted dozens of planes and vessels, South Korea says

South Korea’s military said North Korea disrupted GPS signals from border areas for the second-straight day on Saturday, affecting an unspecified number of flights and vessel operations.

Tensions between the rival Koreas have escalated as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un flaunts his advancing nuclear and missile program and engages in electronic and psychological warfare, such as flying thousands of balloons to drop trash and anti-South Korean propaganda leaflets in the South.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korean operations to manipulate GPS signals were detected from around the western border city of Kaesong and the nearby city of Haeju on Friday and Saturday, and said the activities disrupted dozens of civilian aircraft and several vessels.

While warning aircraft and vessels near western border areas, South Korea’s military did not specify how North Korea was interfering with GPS signals or detail the extent of disruptions.

“We urge North Korea to stop GPS interference provocations immediately and strongly warn that it will be held fully accountable for any resulting consequences,” the South’s joint chiefs said in a statement.

North Korea’s GPS signal disruptions and balloon campaigns highlight the vulnerability of South Korea’s Incheon International Airport, its main transportation gateway, analyst Sukjoon Yoon recently wrote on the North Korea-focused 38 North website.

The airport, which carries 56 million people and 3.6 million tons of cargo annually, is less than 100 kilometers (62 miles) from North Korea.

“No major aviation incidents have resulted to date, but GPS interference can endanger commercial airlines flying in poor visibility, and it is a violation of international conventions on navigational safety,” Yoon wrote. He said that in 2024, North Korean trash balloons halted the airport’s runway operations 12 different times for a total of 265 minutes.

Kim has shown more hostility this year toward Seoul’s conservative government — which maintains a hard line on Pyongyang — with the North abandoning its long-standing goals of reconciliation with its war-divided rival and rewriting its constitution to cement South Korea as a permanent adversary.

North Korea also blew up sections of its unused road and rail routes linked with the South in October in a symbolic display of anger toward Seoul, and opened November with a flight-test of a new intercontinental ballistic missile to dial up pressure on Washington.

South Korean officials say North Korean activities to disrupt GPS signals from western border regions increased as the country began launching trash-carrying balloons toward the South in late May, which the North described as a retaliation against South Korean civilian activists flying anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets across the border.

Aside from North Korea’s weapons demonstrations and non-conventional provocations, there’s growing concern over its reported provision of military equipment and troops to Russia to support President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine. South Korean officials say the deepening military alignment between Moscow and Pyongyang could possibly result in Russian technology transfers that increases the threat posed by Kim’s military nuclear program.

AP NEWS
 
South Korea parliament rejects president's martial law declaration

President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on Tuesday night in a move that stunned South Koreans and triggered a short-lived attempt by troops to enter parliament, as lawmakers and protesters quickly voiced opposition to the most serious challenge to the country's democracy since the 1980s.

The speaker of parliament declared the martial law announcement invalid and lawmakers early on Wednesday voted to reject it.

Yoon's move, which he cast as aimed at his political foes, was vocally opposed even by the leader of his own party, Han Dong-hoon, who was present for the vote in parliament and who has clashed with Yoon over the president's handling of recent scandals.

Earlier, live television footage showed helmeted troops apparently tasked with imposing martial law attempting to enter the assembly building, and parliamentary aides were seen trying to push the soldiers back by spraying fire extinguishers.


 
South Korea cabinet lifts martial law

South Korea's cabinet has lifted the martial law announced by President Yoon Suk Yeol, according to the Yonhap news agency.

Yonhap is also reporting that the South Korean military has disbanded the martial law command.


BBC
 
N Korea mocks 'dictator' Yoon's 'insane' martial law attempt

North Korea has responded to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed attempt to impose martial law, likening it to a military coup and accusing him of trying to run a "fascist dictatorship".

Yoon made the shock declaration last week, accusing North Korea sympathisers of trying to undermine his government. His political future is still uncertain, with members of his own party so far refusing to impeach him.

An article on page six of North Korean state newspaper Rodong Sinmun on Wednesday said that Yoon's "insane act" was "akin to the coup d'etat of the decades-ago military dictatorship era".

"He brazenly brandished blades and guns of fascist dictatorship at his own people," the article stated.

North Korea is led by Kim Jong Un, who is considered a dictator by the international community. His family has ruled the reclusive nation for decades by cultivating a personality cult that portrays the Kims as semi-divine.

The Rodong Sinmum said the developments in Seoul have "revealed the weakness in South Korean society, that Yoon's sudden martial law declaration is an expression of desperation, and that Yoon's political life can end early".

The article had photos of the protests in Seoul, including those of young South Koreans carrying banners and K-pop light sticks.

Yoon's short-lived martial law plunged the country into political turmoil. He remains in office but has been banned from leaving the country while being investigated for treason. Though it is unclear what, if any, authority he still has.

The leader of Yoon's party, Han Dong-hoon, said he would no longer be involved in state affairs until his early exit from power is arranged. However, a roadmap for such an early exit is not expected until the end of the week.

The defence ministry said Yoon still has command over the armed forces. But the special warfare commander had said that his men would not follow any new martial law orders.

There were fears North Korea might choose to exploit this crisis, and provoke Seoul, while there are doubts over the President's command of his army.

An attempt to impeach the President over the weekend had failed, after Yoon's ruling People Power Party chose to boycott the anonymous vote.

But the opposition Democratic Party, which holds the majority in parliament, has vowed to keep trying to impeach Yoon, with another vote expected on Saturday.

It needs at least eight members of Yoon's party to cross over and vote to impeach the president with a two-thirds majority of the 300-seat parliament.

BBC
 

South Korea parliament votes to impeach president​


South Korea's lawmakers have voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his attempt to impose martial law, following massive protests that gripped the country.

A total of 204 MPs supported the motion, including some from Yoon's People Power Party (PPP).

Following days of public pressure the PPP had decided to let its lawmakers vote, after they stymied a previous effort to impeach Yoon last week by boycotting the vote.

The joy was palpable as thousands of anti-Yoon protesters celebrated outside the National Assembly, with people singing along as fireworks broke out overhead.

"To the people, we hope your end of year will be a little happier now, and all your cancelled year-end celebrations to be restored," said National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, as he announced the result.

"The future of the Republic of Korea and our hope is in the hands of the people, our hope is strong," said Woo, a member of the main opposition Democratic Party.

There has been strong public support for Yoon's impeachment - recent polls found three-quarters of South Koreans wanted to see him go.

The constitutional court now has 180 days to rule on whether Yoon should be impeached or restored. If it rules to impeach, an election for the next president must be called within 60 days.

Yoon will be suspended while prime minister Han Duck-soo will take over as acting president.

However Han, as well as finance minister Choi Sang-mok, who is next in line, is involved in an ongoing police probe over last week's events.

In a statement following the vote, Yoon said he is "temporarily stopping my journey" but that he "will never give up".

"I will take your criticism, praise, and support to the heart and do my best for the country until the end," he said.

Outside the National Assembly, where tens of thousands of protesters gathered throughout the day despite the bitter cold, many remained determined to see Yoon leave.

"I'm so happy that the bill passed... At the same time, the fight is not over," physical therapist Sim Hee-seon told the BBC as she wiped her tears.

"We'll have to wait for the court's judgment for his impeachment to be finalised. We will keep watching."

Two women decked out in Rudolf costumes held signs that read: "[It will be] a merry Christmas only if Yoon Seok Yul disappears".

Across town at a pro-Yoon rally in Gwanghwamun Square, it was a different story. His supporters fell silent after hearing the news of the vote. Some people uttered angry insults before leaving the scene.

The success of the vote had depended on the support from the PPP, as the opposition lawmakers who tabled the motion needed just eight more to join them. Last Saturday, when the opposition first tried to impeach Yoon, they fell short by just a few votes as the PPP staged a walkout.

On Saturday, the party held a marathon meeting that began at 10am and lasted till just minutes before the voting session began, as PPP lawmakers struggled to reach a consensus on the party's stance.

In the end, the party agreed to take part and allowed their lawmakers to vote according to their conscience. It appeared that at least 12 of them crossed the floor. Another 85 voted against impeachment.

South Korea has faced nearly two weeks of chaos and uncertainty since Yoon's short-lived martial law attempt late last Tuesday.

Yoon had cited threats from "anti-state forces" and North Korea. But it soon became clear that his move had been spurred by his own domestic political troubles, not by external threats.

Hours later he reversed the order after 190 MPs voted it down, with many of them climbing fences and breaking barricades to get into the voting chamber.

He later apologised. Then on Thursday, he defended his actions saying he did so to protect the country's democracy and vowed to "fight on until the end".

That speech galvanised people, and the president's approval rating tumbled to a record low of 11%, according to a poll by Gallup Korea.

The impeachment of a president is not uncharted territory for South Korea, which last removed former president Park Geun-hye through this process in 2016.

Ironically, Yoon - then a prosecutor - had led the probe against Park, which ultimately resulted in her impeachment.

www.bbc.com

South Korea parliament votes to impeach Yoon Suk Yeol over martial law attempt

Thousands of protesters celebrated the vote on the streets of Seoul, with singing and fireworks.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 
South Korea court begins Yoon's impeachment trial process

South Korea's constitutional court has begun trial proceedings for the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was suspended for declaring martial law and plunging his country into political turmoil.

MPs voted to impeach Yoon last Saturday, after his actions sparked widespread protests calling for him to step down.

The court now has six months to decide whether to remove Yoon or reinstate him.

Yoon's ruling People Power Party (PPP) has been grappling with the fallout ever since, with its leader announcing his resignation on Monday.

While public hearings for Yoon's impeachment trial could take months, the court is under pressure to decide quickly and bring an end to political uncertainty. Protesters have vowed to keep up their calls for Yoon's removal during court proceedings.

In the previous two instances a South Korean president faced impeachment, the court reversed one decision and upheld the other.

There had been questions on whether the trial could proceed in Yoon's case, as the court currently only has six justices out of nine. Three retired recently and have yet to be replaced.

But the court said on Monday it could run Yoon's trial with just six judges, and set a preliminary hearing date for 27 December.

If the court upholds impeachment in Yoon's case, the country must hold fresh presidential elections within 60 days. In the meantime, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo is serving as acting president.

It is unclear if Yoon will take the stand himself during the court hearings.

He ignored a summons to meet prosecutors in Seoul on Sunday, and is set to be ordered in again for questioning. If he fails to come forward this week, police may move to arrest him.

Yoon has defended his decision to impose martial law, and after his impeachment he once again said he would fight until the end.

Minutes after the constitutional court convened on Monday morning, PPP leader Han Dong-hoon announced his resignation.

"I sincerely apologise to all the people who are suffering from this emergency situation," Han said in a televised press conference.

Han has faced growing calls for his resignation particularly from the large pro-Yoon faction of his party, following the president's impeachment.

Han had initially tried to stage an orderly exit for Yoon. But after a defiant speech by Yoon, Han did an about-face and called for his impeachment, saying it was the only way to stop him.

On Saturday, 12 PPP lawmakers were believed to have voted for impeachment, enabling the motion to pass. But most of the other PPP lawmakers voted against Yoon's impeachment.

All five Supreme Council members of the PPP said after the vote that they would resign - which would automatically dissolve the party leadership.

As the Supreme Council has been "destroyed", Han said, it was now "impossible" to serve his duties as party chief.

"While it pains me to think of my heartbroken supporters, I don't regret it," Han said, in reference to his decision to call for Yoon's impeachment.

BBC
 
South Korea votes to impeach acting president Han Duck-soo

South Korea has voted to impeach its acting president Han Duck-soo, two weeks after parliament voted to impeach its President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Some 192 lawmakers voted for his impeachment, more than the 151 votes needed for it to succeed.

Prime minister Han took over the role after President Yoon was impeached by parliament following his failed attempt to impose martial law on 3 December.

Han was supposed to lead the country out of its political turmoil, but opposition MPs argued that he was refusing demands to complete Yoon's impeachment process.

It was a scene of chaos in parliament as the vote was held on Friday.

Lawmakers from Yoon and Han's ruling People Power Party (PPP) protested against National Assembly speaker Woo Won-shik announcement that only 151 votes would be needed to pass the impeachment bill.

This meant that, unlike the 200 votes required for Yoon's impeachment, no votes from ruling lawmakers would be needed this time for Han to be impeached in parliament.

Ruling party MPs gathered in the middle of the voting chamber chanting, "invalid!" and "abuse of power!" in response, and called for the Speaker to step down. Most of them boycotted the vote.

The opposition first filed an impeachment motion against Han on Thursday after he blocked the appointment of three judges that parliament had chosen to oversee Yoon's case.

Korea's Constitutional Court is typically made up of a nine-member bench. At least six judges must uphold Yoon's impeachment in order for the decision to be upheld.

There are currently only six judges on the bench, meaning a single rejection would save Yoon from being removed.

The opposition had hoped the three additional nominees would help improve the odds of Yoon getting impeached.

Finance minister Choi Sang-mok is set to replace Han as acting president.

Han's removal will likely intensify the political gridlock and uncertainty the country is currently grappling with.

BBC
 
Last edited:
Arrest warrant issued for impeached S Korea president Yoon

A Seoul court has issued an arrest warrant against South Korea's suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol over his attempt to impose martial law on 3 December.

The warrant comes after Yoon, who is being investigated for abusing his power and inciting an insurrection, ignored three summonses to appear for questioning over the past two weeks.

Yoon's legal team has called the warrant "illegal and invalid" and said they would challenge it in court.

South Korea has been in political crisis since the short-lived martial law declaration, with Yoon and a successor both impeached by parliament.

Yoon is South Korea's first sitting president to face an arrest.

Investigators have until 6 January to execute the warrant and can request for an extension.

It is unclear, however, if investigators will be able to execute the warrant as they may be thwarted by his security team and protesters.

The presidential security service had earlier blocked investigators from entering the presidential office grounds and Yoon's private residence to conduct court-approved searches.

In the past, South Korean authorities have given up arrest attempts against prominent politicians after their aides and supporters have physically blocked the police.

On Monday, Yoon's legal team said that investigators had no authority to arrest him, as declaring martial law was within the president's constitutional authority.

Yoon had earlier defended his decision to declare martial law and vowed to "fight to the end" - though he also said that he would not avoid his legal and political responsibilities.

His lawyer, Yun Gap-geun, said that Yoon's failure to comply with the earlier three summonses was due to "legitimate concerns".

Yoon's whereabouts are not publicly known, but he has been banned from leaving the country.

While he has been suspended from presidential duties since 14 December after lawmakers voted to impeach him, he can only be removed from office if his impeachment is sustained by the country's constitutional court.

There are currently only six judges on the constitutional court's nine-member bench. This means a single rejection would save Yoon from being removed.

Opposition lawmakers had hoped the nomination of three additional judges would improve the odds of Yoon getting impeached, but their proposal was vetoed by prime minister Han Duck-soo last week.

The opposition has since then voted to impeach Han, who had stepped in as acting leader after Yoon was suspended.

Now, they are threatening to do the same to finance minister Choi Sang-mok, who currently serves as both acting president and acting prime minister.

BBC
 

N Korea fires first ballistic missile in two months: Seoul​


North Korea has fired what appears to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile towards the sea to its east, South Korea's military said, in what is Pyongyang's first missile launch in two months.

Japan's defence ministry said around noon local time (03:00 GMT) that the projectile had already fallen into the sea.

The launch comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits Seoul for talks with some of South Korea's key leaders.

Earlier on Monday, Blinken met with acting president Choi Sang-mok, where he described the alliance between Washington and Seoul as a "cornerstone of peace and stability on the Korean peninsula".

South Korea's military says it has strengthened surveillance for the North's future missile launches and is "closely sharing information" on today's launch with the US and Japan.

Today's launch also comes amid political chaos in South Korea, which has embroiled the country for weeks after suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived martial law attempt in December.

Yoon, who was stripped of his presidential powers after lawmakers voted to impeach him, now faces arrest. The constitutional court is also deliberating whether he should be removed from office.

Pyongyang previously mocked Yoon's shock martial law declaration as an "insane act" and accused Yoon of "brazenly brandishing blades and guns of fascist dictatorship at his own people".

The international community considers North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un a dictator. Kim's family has ruled the hermit nation for decades by developing and promoting a cult of personality.

The last time Pyongyang fired missiles was in November, a day before the US presidential election, when it launched at least seven short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast.

Earlier that week, the US had flown a long-range bomber during trilateral military drills with South Korea and Japan in a show of power, drawing condemnation from Kim's sister Kim Yo Jong.

www.bbc.com

North Korea fires first ballistic missile in two months: Seoul

The launch comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits South Korea to meet key leaders.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 
S Korea's Yoon becomes first sitting president to be arrested

South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol has become the country's first sitting president to be arrested, ending a weeks-long standoff between investigators and his personal security.

Yoon, whose failed attempt to impose martial law plunged the country into turmoil and saw him impeached by parliament, is being investigated on charges of insurrection.

He is, however, still technically the president as a constitutional court has to decide whether his impeachment is valid.

Investigators used ladders and wirecutters in the freezing cold to get to Yoon, whose Presidential Security Service (PSS) personnel had erected barricades in a bid to thwart his arrest.

The 64-year-old leader said he agreed to appear before the Corruption Investigation Office for high ranking officials (CIO) to avoid bloodshed.

In a three-minute video message, Yoon said he would comply with the investigation against him even though he was against it.

He has consistently maintained that the warrant for his arrest is not legally valid.

Yoon said he witnessed how authorities "invaded" his home's security perimeter with fire equipment.

"I decided to appear before the CIO, even though it is an illegal investigation, in order to prevent any unsavoury bloodshed," he said.

More than 1,000 officers were part of Wednesday's dawn operation, which marked the second time officers had tried to arrest him.

The CIO which is investigating Yoon, previously attempted to arrest him on 3 January.

They had obtained the warrant after he ignored multiple summonses to appear for questioning.

Yoon's People Power Party decried his arrest as "illegal", with floor leader Kweon Seong-dong describing Wednesday's events as "regretful".

On the other hand, the floor leader of the opposition Democratic Party, Park Chan-dae, said Yoon's arrest showed that "justice in South Korea is alive".

This arrest "is the first step toward restoring constitutional order, democracy and the rule of law," he said during a party meeting.

The country is currently being led by Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok as acting president. He was thrust into power after the first acting president, Han Duck-soo, was also impeached by opposition majority parliament.

After undergoing questioning on Wednesday, Yoon is expected to be detained at the Seoul Detention Centre in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, approximately 5km (3 miles) from the CIO's office.

If a court doesn't issue a detention warrant within 48 hours of Yoon's arrest, however, he will be released, and free to return to the presidential residence.

While the arrest of a sitting president is remarkable for South Korean politics, the country's political crisis is far from over. It is just another phase in an unfolding political drama.

The crowds outside Yoon's house on Wednesday morning underscored the deep divisions in the country.

The anti-Yoon crowd cheered, clapped and blasted out a "congratulations and celebrations" song at the announcement of his arrest.

The atmosphere is completely different on the other side.

"We are very upset and angry - the rule of law has broken down," a Yoon supporter told the BBC.

The standoff also pitted two branches of executive power against each other: law enforcement officers, armed with a legal arrest warrant and presidential security staff, who said they were duty bound to protect the suspended president.

Even before his martial law declaration, Yoon had been reduced to a lame duck leader as the opposition party held the majority in parliament.

He has also faced controversy over his wife for receiving a Dior bag as a gift.

BBC
 
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