South Korea President Declares Martial Law | Yoon backs down (for now)

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Mulberry Heel

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South Korea's President has declared martial law, claiming that the main opposition political party is "sympathetic" to North Korea and is working to undermine the government. He stated that the opposition party is practicing clear "anti-state behavior aimed at inciting rebellion" and that they have “paralyzed state affairs and turned the National Assembly into a den of criminals.” The South Korean National Assembly has already voted to block his martial law decree. Democracy is under siege around the world, it seems.

Link: https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/martial-law-south-korea-intl/index.html
 
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Yeah, this was the guy who inspired the 4B movement. My Korean acquaintance is not worried about this, right or wrong. They think the guy signed his own political death warrant and will probably end up either with a huge sentence of a flight to exile.
 
Paine said:
Some background on how SK’s president was swept into power in 2022:

www.bbc.com

Why misogyny is at the heart of South Korea's presidential elections

Disgruntled young men who resent feminism are the focus of candidates vying to be president.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
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This also seems familiar (from the article): "Voters' top concerns are skyrocketing house prices, stagnant economic growth, and stubborn youth unemployment."

But let's blame it on misogyny because that is a heck of a lot easier to address than the real issues people are worried about.
 
gtyellowjacket said:
This also seems familiar (from the article): "Voters' top concerns are skyrocketing house prices, stagnant economic growth, and stubborn youth unemployment."

But let's blame it on misogyny because that is a heck of a lot easier to address than the real issues people are worried about.
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What a lot of people, here and elsewhere, miss is the connection between the two issues.
 
gtyellowjacket said:
I certainly am missing the connection. What does misogyny have to do with skyrocketing housing prices?
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It has nothing to do with that.

The connection is this: disgruntled young men will turn to other things when their economic needs aren’t being met. South Korea has very similar issues to the U.S. in this regard. That is, major economic issues facing young people.

One party says: your economic hardships are because of women taking away your opportunities.

The other party says: there actually isn’t an issue. (Or, like happens often, the other party concedes the point to the right wing and says women actually are a problem, which is what happened in SK and what happened in the U.S. re: immigrants.)

Which party are these disgruntled young men more likely to support?
 
Paine said:
It has nothing to do with that.

The connection is this: disgruntled young men will turn to other things when their economic needs aren’t being met. South Korea has very similar issues to the U.S. in this regard. That is, major economic issues facing young people.

One party says: your economic hardships are because of women taking away your opportunities.

The other party says: there actually isn’t an issue.

Which party are these disgruntled young men more likely to support?
Click to expand...
That could potentially work for economic opportunities but the number one issue in South Korea was high housing prices. How is that connected?
 
gtyellowjacket said:
That could potentially work for economic opportunities but the number one issue in South Korea was high housing prices. How is that connected?
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You don’t see how neoliberal economics implicates housing? People’s ability to access and pay for adequate housing directly relates to their perceived economic situation.
 
Paine said:
You don’t see how neoliberal economics implicates housing? People’s ability to access and pay for adequate housing directly relates to their perceived economic situation.
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Yeah. The actual 'price' of housing means nothing without context of employment and wages. My parents were appalled by what I paid for my house and I am appalled by what my kids paid recently for theirs. My parents would be aghast if they knew what my kids paid.
 
uncgriff said:
Yeah. The actual 'price' of housing means nothing without context of employment and wages. My parents were appalled by what I paid for my house and I am appalled by what my kids paid recently for theirs. My parents would be aghast if they knew what my kids paid.
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I’m in the market right now and my parents are appalled. A doublewide/modular in rural eastern NC, which is mainly what I’m looking at, is usually between 220,000-280,000 right now.
 
Would not surprise me a bit to see that conservative regime the US just swept in follow the same trajectory as the one SK swept in back in 2022: conservative gov't fails to fix anything, opposing party sweeps back into legislative power in midterms, so conservative president starts trying to exert unilateral authority and take it away from legislature.
 
Paine said:
It has nothing to do with that.

The connection is this: disgruntled young men will turn to other things when their economic needs aren’t being met. South Korea has very similar issues to the U.S. in this regard. That is, major economic issues facing young people.

One party says: your economic hardships are because of women taking away your opportunities.

The other party says: there actually isn’t an issue. (Or, like happens often, the other party concedes the point to the right wing and says women actually are a problem, which is what happened in SK and what happened in the U.S. re: immigrants.)

Which party are these disgruntled young men more likely to support?
Click to expand...
The one that promises them the most free stuff.
 
Mulberry Heel said:
South Korea's President has declared martial law, claiming that the main opposition political party is "sympathetic" to North Korea and is working to undermine the government. He stated that the opposition party is practicing clear "anti-state behavior aimed at inciting rebellion" and that they have “paralyzed state affairs and turned the National Assembly into a den of criminals.” The South Korean National Assembly has already voted to block his martial law decree. Democracy is under siege around the world, it seems.

Link: https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/martial-law-south-korea-intl/index.html
Click to expand...
Yep, and was certainly dealt a blow over the weekend.
 
Paine said:
It has nothing to do with that.

The connection is this: disgruntled young men will turn to other things when their economic needs aren’t being met. South Korea has very similar issues to the U.S. in this regard. That is, major economic issues facing young people.

One party says: your economic hardships are because of women taking away your opportunities.

The other party says: there actually isn’t an issue. (Or, like happens often, the other party concedes the point to the right wing and says women actually are a problem, which is what happened in SK and what happened in the U.S. re: immigrants.)

Which party are these disgruntled young men more likely to support?
Click to expand...
I mean it's not really true that Dems in the US have said "there actually isn't an issue" in response to the economic concerns of young and working class people - and I suspect that isn't what the liberal party in SK said to voters either - but I suppose it makes your framing better to pretend that's what they say.
 
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