Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed coup attempt in December plunged country into worst political crisis in decades
The impeached South Korean president, Yoon Suk Yeol, will receive a pay rise, official documents revealed, as he continues to resist arrest over his ill-fated martial law declaration.
Yoon suspended civilian rule on 3 December, sending soldiers into parliament and plunging the country into its worst political crisis in decades. He was forced to backtrack hours later.
Continue reading...Lawyer for suspended president says concerns about ‘potential incidents’ have arisen following thwarted attempt to arrest him at his residence
South Korea’s suspended president, Yoon Suk Yeol, will not attend the first hearing of his impeachment trial next week because of safety concerns, his lawyer has said.
Yoon has been holed up in the presidential residence and protected by an elite guard force since being suspended and impeached last month following a short-lived declaration of martial law that plunged the country into political chaos.
Continue reading...Recording of flight data ceased four minutes before Jeju Air crash that killed 179 people, says transport ministry
Flight data and cockpit voice recorders on the Jeju Air plane that crashed in South Korea in December, killing 179 people, stopped recording about four minutes before the airliner hit a concrete structure at Muan airport, the transport ministry said.
Authorities investigating the disaster, the worst plane crash on South Korean soil, plan to analyse what caused the black boxes to stop recording, the ministry said.
Continue reading...Attitudes to North Korea are key to understanding President Yoon Suk Yeol’s attempt to impose martial law and its aftermath
As South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol remains barricaded in his residence facing arrest, his descent from star prosecutor to isolated leader reveals a deeper story about a cold war-era ideology that continues to shape – and shake – South Korean politics.
The scenes outside his residence might look familiar to audiences who followed Trump-era politics: supporters waving American flags claiming democracy is under threat, decrying “fake news”, rallying against alleged election fraud, and calls to “make Korea great again”.
Continue reading...Request comes after attempts to detain Yoon Suk Yeol were thwarted by presidential security service guards last week
South Korea’s investigating authorities have requested an extension of a warrant to arrest the country’s impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol.
The corruption investigation office for high-ranking officials (CIO) made the application at Seoul western district court on Monday.
Continue reading...Crowds gather outside South Korean presidential residence where suspended leader is protected by security officers
Thousands of rival South Korean protesters have rallied in the capital a day after a failed attempt to arrest the country’s suspended president, Yoon Suk Yeol, for imposing a short-lived martial law decree that led to his impeachment.
The country has been plunged into political chaos since last month, with Yoon defiantly holed up in the presidential residence surrounded by hundreds of loyal security officers who have so far resisted efforts by prosecutors to arrest him.
Continue reading...Yoon Suk Yeoul has vowed to ‘fight to the end’ as he resists attempts to hold him accountable amid political crisis
South Korean anti-corruption officials attempting to arrest the country’s suspended president, Yoon Suk Yeol, must know by now what he meant by his repeated vows to “fight to the end”.
In the month since his calamitous declaration of martial law, Yoon, along with most of his party, his legal team and, crucially, his security detail, have resisted at every turn attempts to hold him politically and legally accountable.
Continue reading...Anti-corruption officials say they were blocked by 200 presidential personnel. Plus, FBI says New Orleans terror suspect acted alone
Good morning.
South Korea’s political crisis took a dramatic turn on Friday when investigators were forced to abandon an attempt to arrest the impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol, after a tense standoff with his security forces.
What are the details of Friday’s standoff? Local media reports said anti-corruption officials – who are leading a joint team of police and prosecutors – entered the compound to find themselves blocked by troops under the control of the presidential security service.
What happened on 3 December? Yoon declared martial law in an attempt to root out what he described as “anti-state, pro-North Korean” forces – a reference to opposition MPs in the national assembly. He did not provide any evidence for those claims, however. He was forced to lift the order six hours later after lawmakers forced their way past troops into the parliament building to vote it down.
What do we know about the New Orleans attack suspect? It’s understood Jabbar was born and raised in Texas, served in the US army from 2007-15, and in 2022 was $27,000 behind on house payments, he said in court documents. Jabbar’s brother told AP that in recent months he’d isolated himself.
Why didn’t steel bollards stop the attack? Seven years ago, officials began installing barriers at intersections in the French Quarter of the city. But the steel bollards were in the process of being replaced over New Year’s Eve.
Continue reading...The prominence of the US flag at conservative rallies reflects a complex intersection of religion, politics and identity that defines South Korea’s far-right movement
As investigators attempted to arrest president Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday morning, his supporters gathered outside the presidential residence waving two national flags: the South Korean Taegukgi alongside the American Stars and Stripes.
To outsiders, the unexpected combination may seem baffling. But to Yoon’s supporters, America represents more than an ally: it’s a perceived ideal. The symbolism of the US flag is a declaration of a broader cultural and spiritual order they believe is under threat.
Continue reading...Letter rallying supporters comes as he faces arrest over declaration of martial law and allegations of insurrection
South Korea’s impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has rallied his supporters in a letter saying he will “fight until the end” as he faces an attempt by authorities to arrest him over his short-lived declaration of martial law, a lawyer said.
“I am watching on YouTube live all the hard work you are doing,” Yoon wrote late on Wednesday to the hundreds of supporters who had gathered near his official residence to protest against the investigation into him.
Continue reading...Pressure builds on authorities to establish cause of crash which killed 179 people
Police in South Korea have raided Muan international airport, the scene of Sunday’s plane crash, in which 179 people died, as well as the office of the airline that operated the flight, media reports said.
Jeju Air flight 2216 was carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea when it issued a mayday call and belly-landed on the runaway, before crashing into a barrier and bursting into flames. Two flight attendants survived the crash, the worst aviation disaster on the country’s soil.
Continue reading...Authorities hope for vital clues as contents of cockpit recorder are converted into audio format
Investigators in South Korea have extracted data from one of two black boxes retrieved from a Jeju Air plane that crashed shortly after landing on Sunday, killing all but two of the 181 people onboard.
The country’s deputy minister for civil aviation, Joo Jong-wan, said initial data had been retrieved from the Boeing 737-800’s cockpit voice recorder, and that the contents were being converted into audio format.
Continue reading...Experts hope flight recorders will provide answers to key questions surrounding crash in which 179 died
As investigators set to work unpicking the cause of Sunday’s devastating plane crash in South Korea, the black boxes carried on the aircraft will be of prime importance, with retrieval of data from the cockpit voice recorder under way.
All but two of the 181 people onboard died in the disaster, with the victims aged from three to 78. The Korean airline’s chief executive, Kim E-bae, said he wanted “to bow my head and apologise”, according to a statement on the company’s website, adding it was “difficult to determine the cause of the accident”.
Continue reading...The warrant was sought over Yoon’s controversial and short-lived decision to impose martial law early in December
A court in South Korea has approved an arrest warrant for the country’s suspended president, Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached over his ill-fated decision to impose martial law early this month, investigators said.
Yoon’s decision to declare martial law late on 3 December plunged Asia’s fourth-biggest economy into its worst political crisis for decades and caused concern in Washington.
Continue reading...Even as experts remain puzzled by Jeju Air crash, they are sceptical a bird strike was sole cause of fatal disaster
One day after the fatal airline disaster in South Korea, the answer as to what went wrong with Jeju Air 2216 remains elusive.
Even as experts remain puzzled by what caused the crash that killed 179 people, experts say that a bird striking the engine is unlikely to be the sole factor.
Continue reading...After 179 die at Muan airport, a team of US investigators will join local authorities to look at possible causes of the flight 2216 accident
Choi orders transport ministry to conduct emergency safety inspection of country’s entire airline system
Circling back to earlier remarks from acting president Choi Sang-mok:
Continue reading...Authorities announce probe as shocked citizens began a second day of official mourning
South Korea’s acting president has ordered an emergency safety inspection of the country’s entire airline operations, while authorities plan a separate check of all Boeing 737-800s, after 179 people died in a Jeju Air crash involving the aircraft on Sunday.
As shocked citizens began a second day of official mourning and flags flew at half-mast, the government said it would carry out the audit of all 101 of the aircraft in domestic operation, with US investigators, possibly including Boeing, joining the probe.
Continue reading...Authorities plan to question Yoon on allegations of abuse of authority and orchestrating a rebellion after his short-lived declaration of martial law
South Korean law enforcement officials have requested a court warrant to arrest impeached president, Yoon Suk Yeol, as they investigate whether his short-lived martial law decree amounted to rebellion.
The Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, which is leading a joint investigation with police and military authorities into the power grab that lasted only a few hours on 3 December, confirmed it requested the warrant from a Seoul court. They plan to question Yoon on allegations of abuse of authority and orchestrating a rebellion.
Continue reading...Team from NTSB, FAA and manufacturer Boeing to assist investigation of Jeju Air crash that killed 179
The US is sending air accident investigators to South Korea to help determine what went wrong with the Jeju Air plane that crash-landed at Muan airport and skidded into a barrier early on Sunday, killing 179.
The team of investigators includes the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing, which manufactured the 17-year-old aircraft.
Continue reading...Footage appears to show Boeing 737-800 skidding along runway at Muan airport before hitting wall and catching fire
All but two of 181 people onboard a plane that crashed while landing at an airport in South Korea are presumed to have died, in the country’s worst domestic civil aviation disaster.
Officials said they had confirmed that 177 people died in the crash on Sunday at Muan international airport in the country’s south-west, while two crew members – a man and a woman – had been rescued. Two people remained missing nine hours after the incident.
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