South Korea opposition accuse ruling party of ‘second coup’

South Korea opposition accuse ruling party of ‘second coup’
Protesters tear signs, depicting the names of ruling People Power Parties’ lawmakers who did not vote during the impeachment motion against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, during a rally in Seoul on Dec. 9, 2024. (Reuters)
Short Url
Updated 09 December 2024
Follow

South Korea opposition accuse ruling party of ‘second coup’

South Korea opposition accuse ruling party of ‘second coup’
  • President Yoon Suk Yeol plunged the country into political chaos with his attempt to scrap civilian rule
  • His declaration of martial law lasted just six hours after lawmakers managed to vote the measure down

SEOUL: South Korea’s opposition on Monday accused the ruling party of staging a “second coup” by clinging to power and refusing to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his declaration of martial law.
Yoon plunged the country into political chaos with his attempt to scrap civilian rule, which lasted just six hours after lawmakers scuffled with soldiers in the parliament building and managed to vote the measure down, forcing Yoon into an embarrassing U-turn.
The president and a slew of top officials are now being investigated for insurrection, but a bid to impeach Yoon failed Saturday after a boycott by the ruling party, who claim the wildly unpopular leader has agreed to hand power to the prime minister and party chief.
“This is an unlawful, unconstitutional act of a second insurrection and a second coup,” Democratic Party floor leader Park Chan-dae said, urging the ruling party to “stop it immediately.”
Under South Korea’s constitution, the president remains head of government and commander in chief of the army unless he or she is incapacitated, resigns or steps down.
In such a case, power would be handed to the prime minister on an interim basis, until elections could be held.
Claiming that Yoon can remain in office but has delegated his powers to the prime minister and leader of his ruling People Power Party — who is not an elected official — is “a blatant constitutional violation with no legal basis,” Park said.
“Their attitude of placing themselves above the Constitution mirrors that of insurrectionist Yoon Suk Yeol,” he added.
Investigators have already detained the former defense minister, raided his offices, slapped a host of top officials with travel bans, and on Monday called in the general who was made martial law commander for further questioning.
Yoon himself could be called in for questioning, police said Monday, adding that they are “considering” whether to ban him from traveling, as their investigation gathered speed.
“There are no human or physical restrictions to the subject of an investigation,” said Woo Jong-soo, head of the National Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency.
Police will investigate “in accordance with the law and principles — without any exceptions.”
The defense ministry confirmed Monday that the embattled Yoon remained at the head of the country’s security apparatus, despite the apparent power vacuum in the country — which remains technically at war with the nuclear-armed North.
“Legally, (control of military forces) currently lies with the commander in chief,” defense ministry spokesperson Jeon Ha-kyou said.
Yoon, 63, has apologized for “anxiety and inconvenience” caused by his declaration of martial law but has not stepped down, saying instead he would entrust decisions about his fate to his party — and accept all political and legal responsibility for the martial law fiasco.
There is no constitutional basis supporting the ruling party’s claim that Yoon can stay in office but hand over his power to unelected party officials, said Kim Hae-won, a constitutional law professor at Pusan National University Law School.
“It seems to resemble an unconstitutional soft coup,” he said.
“If there are issues with the President, there are ways laid out in the Constitution such as suspending the president from his duties, and then move on to proceedings set out in the Constitution, such as impeachment,” he said.
The opposition has already said they will try again to impeach the president, with leader Lee Jae-myung saying another vote would be held on Saturday.
Huge crowds are expected to gather again outside the National Assembly building.
Yoon’s approval rating hit 11 percent, a historic low for the unpopular president, according to a new Gallup poll commissioned by local media.


EU says irregular crossings into bloc last year lowest since 2021

EU says irregular crossings into bloc last year lowest since 2021
Updated 6 sec ago
Follow

EU says irregular crossings into bloc last year lowest since 2021

EU says irregular crossings into bloc last year lowest since 2021
WARSAW: The number of irregular crossings into the European Union recorded in 2024 fell to the lowest level since 2021, the bloc's border agency Frontex said on Tuesday.
Warsaw-based Frontex, which regularly publishes statistics on irregular entries into the EU, said last year's preliminary data revealed "a significant 38-percent drop" in crossings.
The agency said in a statement the numbers were at "the lowest level since 2021, when migration was still affected by the COVID pandemic".
Frontex said the decrease in undocumented asylum seekers was mainly driven by a plunge in arrivals through the Central Mediterranean and the Western Balkans routes.
"Despite persistent migration pressure, intensified EU and partner cooperation against smuggling networks has significantly reduced crossings at Europe's external borders," Frontex said.
Overall, in 2024 the agency saw over 239,000 irregular entries into the EU.
The biggest fall was registered along the route through the Western Balkans, a 78-percent drop that Frontex attributed to "strong efforts by regional countries to stem the flow".
Irregular entries detected via the Central Mediterranean fell by 59 percent due to "fewer departures from Tunisia and Libya", Frontex said.
Despite the decrease, the route still accounted for about 67,000 crossings, the second highest among all routes after the Eastern Mediterranean route, it added.


Other routes used by undocumented asylum seekers, however, saw sharp increases.
The Canary Islands registering an 18-percent rise in arrivals to almost 47,000, the highest figure since Frontex began collecting data in 2009.
This was "fuelled by departures from Mauritania", Frontex said, adding that "flows from other departure points declined".
Spain has moved to the forefront of the European Union's migration flow as tighter controls in the Mediterranean push more asylum seekers to attempt the perilous trip from West Africa to the Canaries.
The agency also said a "threefold" rise in detections was registered at the EU's eastern land borders, including at Poland's border with Belarus.
EU states along the bloc's eastern edge have accused Russia and its ally Belarus of pushing thousands of migrants over their borders in recent years as part of a campaign to destabilise Europe.
In December, the EU said that member states bordering Russia and Belarus could limit the right to asylum for migrants in the event of their "weaponisation" by Moscow and Minsk.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said last month the right to asylum "is being used today -- especially on the border with Belarus -- by Poland's enemies".
Commenting on the latest figures, Frontex's executive director Hans Leijtens said that 2024 "highlighted emerging risks and shifting dynamics".
The agency said these involve smuggling networks adapting to new circumstances and rapidly shifting migration flows.
It also warned against "increasing violence" by smugglers along the Western Balkans route.

Trump would have been convicted if he wasn’t elected: special counsel report

Trump would have been convicted if he wasn’t elected: special counsel report
Updated 14 January 2025
Follow

Trump would have been convicted if he wasn’t elected: special counsel report

Trump would have been convicted if he wasn’t elected: special counsel report

WASHINGTON: US President-elect Donald Trump would have been convicted for his alleged effort to overturn the 2020 election result if he hadn’t been elected four years later, said a report by then special counsel Jack Smith released early Tuesday.
The US Department of Justice’s “view that the Constitution prohibits the continued indictment and prosecution of a President is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Office stands fully behind,” the report said.
“Indeed, but for Mr. Trump’s election and imminent return to the Presidency, the (Special Counsel’s) Office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial.”
Trump, who returns to the White House on January 20, had been accused of conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding — the session of Congress called to certify President Joe Biden’s election win but which was violently attacked on January 6, 2021 by a mob of the Republican’s supporters.
Smith, who was special counsel appointed to investigate Trump, dropped the federal criminal case against the incoming leader after he won November’s presidential election.
Soon after the report’s overnight release, Trump hit back on his Truth Social platform, calling Smith “deranged,” and adding that he “was unable to successfully prosecute the Political Opponent of his ‘boss’.”
“To show you how desperate Deranged Jack Smith is, he released his Fake findings at 1:00 A.M. in the morning,” Trump added in another post.
Trump’s attorneys had earlier urged US Attorney General Merrick Garland not to release the report, calling the plan to release it “unlawful, undertaken in bad faith, and contrary to the public interest.”

2020 ELECTION
Smith’s report details Trump’s alleged efforts to persuade state-level Republican lawmakers and leaders to “change the results” of the 2020 election.
“Mr. Trump contacted state legislators and executives, pressured them with false claims of election fraud in their states, and urged them to take action to ignore the vote counts and change the results,” according to the report released by the Department of Justice.
“Significantly, he made election claims only to state legislators and executives who shared his political affiliation and were his political supporters, and only in states that he had lost,” it added.
In addition, the report alleges Trump and co-conspirators planned to organize individuals who would have served as his electors, if he had won the popular vote, in seven states where he lost — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — “and cause them to sign and send to Washington false certifications claiming to be the legitimate electors.”
They ultimately “used the fraudulent certificates to try to obstruct the congressional certification proceeding,” the report says.
The special counsel office concluded that “Trump’s conduct violated several federal criminal statutes and that the admissible evidence would be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction.”
Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, dismissed a separate case against the former and future president last year — over Trump’s handling of top secret documents after leaving the White House — but charges are still pending against two of his former co-defendants.
Smith left the justice department last week, days after submitting his final report as special counsel.
In another case, a judge sentenced Trump to an unconditional discharge on Friday for covering up hush money payments to a porn star despite the US president-elect’s last-ditch efforts to avoid becoming the first felon in the White House.


‘Survival mode’ for families displaced by Ethiopia quakes

‘Survival mode’ for families displaced by Ethiopia quakes
Updated 14 January 2025
Follow

‘Survival mode’ for families displaced by Ethiopia quakes

‘Survival mode’ for families displaced by Ethiopia quakes

AWASH: Under a makeshift shelter, Moussa Akele kills time chewing the stimulant khat, wondering where his family will get its next meal after fleeing a series of earthquakes that have shaken several regions of Ethiopia.
The 40-year-old was at home in Kabanna in the Afar region, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) northeast of the capital Addis Ababa, when an earthquake struck in late December.
“It caused widespread panic and destroyed our houses. People were terrified,” he said.
Ethiopia’s Rift Valley is one of the most seismically active regions in the world.
For several weeks, frequent tremors, including one measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale, have been shaking the rural regions of Afar and Oromia.
There are fears they could cause a major dam to collapse or lead to the eruption of a volcano, Mount Dofan, so the authorities have evacuated tens of thousands of people.
Akele, who worked in a sugar factory, found refuge with his family about 20 km from Kabanna. Like several thousand others, they now live in a tent pitched in the middle of arid vegetation.
“We were evacuated from our good and peaceful life and are now living in survival mode,” he said.
Trucks loaded with water and food arrive regularly, “but there are a lot of people and it’s not enough,” he added.
Most of the displaced are pastoralists, who had to leave their livestock behind.
Under a blazing sun and amid dust clouds caused by the trucks, several dozen women and children queue with jerry cans. Fights occasionally break out in the desperation.


Assea Ali didn’t have time to take anything with her.
“We fled for our lives,” said the 26-year-old mother of two.
“This is the condition we are living in now,” she added, pointing to a small tent and sighing: “I have no hope.”
On a small hill overlooking the camp, a health center has been set up by local authorities.
Several women rush in as soon as it opens, most to weigh their young children.
“Until the government and support agencies like UNICEF or the World Health Organization intervene, we are helping people with the resources we have,” said Abokar Hassan, 24, a health response officer.
He estimates between 200 and 300 people see him each day, mainly to prevent the spread of cholera.
According to the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Ethiopian authorities have evacuated more than 60,000 people living in high-risk areas, including some near a dam.
“A comprehensive humanitarian response is under way, but significant gaps remain,” OCHA said in a statement on Saturday.
The region is known to be a “volcanic, tectonic zone,” Cecile Doubre, a seismologist at the Strasbourg School and Observatory of Earth Sciences and a specialist in Afar, told AFP.
“There has been no eruption yet, but there is a spread of magma under the earth’s crust, between zero and 15 km. It is spreading in a large fissure, about 50 km long,” she added. “It’s a major geological event.”
Some sections of the road bear the scars of seismic activity, with the track to Kabanna partially collapsed.
In the city, there is a heavy silence, broken only by the lowing of oxen wandering the deserted streets amid several destroyed houses and businesses.
Despite the situation, Akele remains hopeful.
“The fear and uncertainty we are experiencing now are temporary, and we must not let them make us despair,” he said.


Ukraine strikes Russia in major drone and missile attack — Russian media

Ukraine strikes Russia in major drone and missile attack — Russian media
Updated 14 January 2025
Follow

Ukraine strikes Russia in major drone and missile attack — Russian media

Ukraine strikes Russia in major drone and missile attack — Russian media
  • Dozens of Ukrainian drones attack Russian regions
  • Reports of emergency sirens at major refinery

MOSCOW: Ukraine struck Russian regions with a major drone and missile attack overnight, damaging at least two factories and forcing schools to close in a major southern Russian city, according to Russian officials and media.
The Shot Telegram channel said that Russia had downed more than 200 Ukrainian drones and five US-made ATACMS ballistic missiles.
“The enemy has organized a massive combined strike on the territory of the Russian regions,” the Two Majors war blogger said.
Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of the Bryansk region in western Russia, said Ukraine had launched a major missile attack but did not say which missiles had been used.
The Russian defense ministry, which reports on such attacks, made no immediate comment. Reuters was unable to immediately confirm the reports.
In the Russian city of Engels, home to an air base where Russia’s nuclear bombers are based, Saratov Governor Roman Busargin said an industrial enterprise had been damaged by a drone but gave no more details.
Busargin said that classes in schools in Saratov and Engels would be held remotely. Flight restrictions were imposed in Kazan, Saratov, Penza, Ulyanovsk and Nizhnekamsk, Russia’s aviation watchdog said.
Nizhnekamsk, in Russia’s republic of Tatarstan, is home to the major Taneco refinery. Shot said attack sirens were sounded at the refinery. Reuters was unable to immediately verify the report.
Russia fired a new intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile known as “Oreshnik,” or Hazel Tree, at Ukraine on Nov. 21 in what President Vladimir Putin said was a direct response to strikes on Russia by Ukrainian forces with US and British missiles.
Putin, after those attacks, said that the Ukraine war was escalating toward a global conflict after the United States and Britain allowed Ukraine to hit Russia with their weapons, and warned the West that Moscow could strike back.
President-elect Donald Trump has pushed for a ceasefire and negotiations to end the war quickly, leaving Washington’s long-term support for Ukraine in question.
Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine has left tens of thousands of dead, displaced millions and triggered the biggest crisis in relations between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.


North Korea fires short-range ballistic missiles before Trump return

North Korea fires short-range ballistic missiles before Trump return
Updated 14 January 2025
Follow

North Korea fires short-range ballistic missiles before Trump return

North Korea fires short-range ballistic missiles before Trump return

SEOUL: North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles into the sea Tuesday, according to Seoul’s military, in what experts said could be a message to US President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration.
The launch comes as Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya visits South Korea for a series of meetings with top officials, with the Asian neighbors seeking to boost bilateral ties before Trump returns to office next week.
“The South Korean military detected several short-range ballistic missiles fired into the East Sea,” Seoul’s military said, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.
It said the launch took place around 9:30 am (0030 GMT) near North Korea’s Ganggye area, with the missiles flying 250 kilometers (155 miles) before landing in the sea.
“The intelligence authorities of South Korea and the US have detected and monitored North Korea’s missile launch preparations in advance, and immediately detected and tracked them at the time of launch,” the military said.
It said it was maintaining “full readiness” and sharing information with the United States and Japan while “strengthening surveillance and alertness” for more launches.
Seoul’s acting President Choi Sang-mok slammed the launch, saying it violated UN Security Council resolutions.
“Seoul will respond more strongly to North Korea’s provocations based on its strong security posture and alliance with the US,” he said.
Experts said the latest launch could be intended as a message to the incoming Trump administration.
“It could be aimed at the US,” said Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
“It may indicate an intention to put pressure ahead of the Trump administration’s second term.”

ASSERT PRESENCE 
Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, told AFP the test launch “appears to be an intention to assert presence ahead of the Trump administration.”
He said it could also be aimed at “destabilising South Korea during Seoul’s own period of turmoil,” as suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol faces an impeachment trial that begins Tuesday in the Constitutional Court after a failed martial law bid last month.
Relations between the two Koreas have been at one of their lowest points in years, with the North launching a flurry of ballistic missiles last year in violation of UN sanctions.
The Tuesday launch is Pyongyang’s second this year, after it fired last week what it said was a new hypersonic missile system.
The location of the test site was undisclosed but images released by North Korean state media KCNA showed leader Kim Jong Un observing last week’s launch with his teenage daughter Ju Ae.
KCNA cited the use of a “new compound of carbon fiber” in the missile’s engine, which experts warned could allow Pyongyang to hit further targets with technology to which only the United States, Russia and China currently have access.
Last week’s alleged hypersonic missile launch came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting South Korea.
While in Seoul, Blinken said Russia was increasing cooperation with Pyongyang, adding they were working ever more closely on advanced space technology.
Ahn said another reason for Tuesday’s launch may be the testing of “missiles for export to Russia to be used in Ukraine.”

RUSSIAN SUPPORT
Blinken also voiced renewed concern that Russia, a veto-wielding UN Security Council member, would formally accept North Korea as a nuclear state in a blow to global consensus that Pyongyang must end its program.
In late October, North Korea test-fired what it said was its most advanced and powerful solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Days later, it fired a salvo of short-range ballistic missiles.
US and South Korean intelligence also believe that North Korea in October started to send thousands of troops to fight against Ukraine and has since suffered hundreds of casualties.
But neither North Korea nor Russia has officially confirmed that Pyongyang’s forces are fighting for Moscow.
On Monday, a South Korean lawmaker said around 300 North Korean soldiers have been killed and 2,700 wounded while fighting in Russia’s war against Ukraine, citing information from Seoul’s spy agency.
Over the weekend Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv had captured two North Korean soldiers, releasing video of the injured combatants being interrogated.