The Koreas

Despite an arrest warrant issued by the court, the presidential security service blocked the CIO from detaining South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol.

For the first time in South Korea’s history, an arrest warrant requested by the investigation agency against the president has been issued.

On December 29, a Jeju Air plane skidded off the runway at the Muan International Airport after failing to deploy landing gear. Just 2 survived the fiery crash.

A day after Han Duck-soo vowed not to appoint three judges for the Constitutional Court, the main opposition party impeached the acting president.

It’s not just Yoon whose political career hangs in the balance; opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung is grappling with numerous legal woes of his own.

Despite his vow not to avoid legal and political responsibility, President Yoon has repeatedly refused to receive documents from the Constitutional Court that are related to his impeachment trial.

The central role of Yoon's defense minister, Kim Yong-hyun, in the recent martial law declaration highlights concerns about military influence in South Korean politics.

Reversing his decision to defer to the ruling party, Yoon implied that the main opposition Democratic Party was the “anti-state forces” he referred to in his declaration of martial law.

Already, concerned investors are withdrawing from South Korea’s stock markets. Prolonged instability will exacerbate the economic damage.

Yoon implied that he would depute his presidential powers and authorities to the ruling party, but it is illegitimate for the PPP to exercise them.

With the ruling party holding a meeting to avoid the vote, the National Assembly was short of a quorum.

South Korea’s democracy has evolved to resist authoritarianism – a sharp contrast to the weaker historical response of its institutions during previous martial law impositions.