Kor(ule)ea : 196

[–] TotallynotJessica 2 points 3 hours ago

It seems like the rest of the party didn't have faith in him. He jumped the gun for personal reasons, while it would have cost the judiciary and politicians more than it would benefit.

This is kinda what happened when Trump lost the 2020 election. AG Bill Barr was probably down with a dictatorship, but he also knew that Trump wasn't gonna pull it off then. If Trump tried to overturn that election, the military would have stopped him and the public perception would sour. By holding Trump back from a more radical conflict that might actually bar him from running again, Trump was able to come back for the same reasons that he won in 2016.

If President Moon gets removed, the opposition party might come into greater conflict with Trump because they're less enthusiastic about licking America's boot. Trump will likely stop protecting them against North Korea unless they agree to unreasonable demands, as he tries to avoid such defense obligations. He might leave no matter what, but Moon will probably return to power anyways in 2026 on a platform of getting support from America.

He needs to be barred from holding office, or South Korea will be the next liberal democracy to fail from inside.

[–] [email protected] 46 points 10 hours ago

Reminds me of this one:

[–] PugJesus 64 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

God, I wish we had a concept like that

[–] disguy_ovahea 41 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

The only reason their law was upheld is because Parliament voted against their president’s call for martial law.

The same system exists in the US. Unfortunately, we voted as a nation to fill Congress with Trump loyalists.

There’s no point in having laws if no one will hold leaders accountable to them.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

It's a bit more complicated than that. The people's power party has supported Yoon much like the Republicans have supported trump, this was just the straw that broke the camels back.

If the parliament didn't immediately deal with the situation, there would have been a massive riot. Koreans have a pretty long history of rioting against the government, and even the extremist among the right wing politicians didn't want to catch that smoke.

The biggest difference between the US and Korea is that the US police state is filled with conservatives who yearn to do violence against their fellow citizens. While the Korean police state is mostly made of everyday normal people who are just doing their mandatory service.

There was a moment last night where the military could have stepped in and enforced the president's will, but chose not to. I think if it had been America, the woman who grabbed a soldier's rifle pointed at her head and scolded the dude, would have been killed or at very least beaten severely.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 hours ago (2 children)

There was a moment last night where the military could have stepped in and enforced the president’s will, but chose not to

Umm, why are we whitewashing the military's role in this? Let's not forget that the military tried to stop the vote of the National Assembly to end martial law. They had to defend the Assembly using fire extinguishers and couch barricades to stop the military breaking in. And that the military continued enforcing the martial law provisions everywhere other than the Assembly even after the National Assembly had voted unanimously to end it, not standing down until 3 hours later when President Yoon declared it over.

Constitutionally I have no idea what's up. Whether the initial declaration was lawful, whether the Assembly's motion to end it had legal effect, whether the President's word was needed to end it. But at the very least from an outsider perspective, it certainly looks like the military was attempting to enforce the President's will and was taking advantage of the opportunity to be as authoritarian as it could.

[–] Maggoty 6 points 8 hours ago

Okay but you also need to acknowledge they rolled out with all of their gear. If they truly supported this then some staffer with a fire extinguisher would not have stopped them. This has all the energy of malicious compliance.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 hours ago

Umm, why are we whitewashing the military's role in this?

Not really trying to "whitewash" the military. I was just pointing out the difference between the average cop in America and the average service member in Korea.

The military is definitely part of the police state and will obviously do their jobs, especially the command structure. However, there is a big difference between the socially acceptable use of state violence between the two countries.

President's word was needed to end it. But at the very least from an outsider perspective, it certainly looks like the military was attempting to enforce the President's will and

Much like America the president is the commander and chief of the military, and thus the military must follow lawful orders.

was taking advantage of the opportunity to be as authoritarian as it could.

I think that's a bit of an over exaggeration considering there wasn't a mass casualty event or even real violence. Which is definitely an improvement considering South Korea was a highly violent military dictatorship within my own lifetime.

[–] disguy_ovahea 3 points 10 hours ago

Interesting. I need to learn more about South Korea’s governmental structure. Thank you for the insight. Your description of the difference in military response is on the money as well.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Its sad when the most cyberpunk country has actual law and order.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 hours ago

In all the cyberpunk I've read/seen the state is usually quite weak, and that's a pretty important aspect. Martial law is not compatible with a weak state. That's a different type of dystopia

[–] TheBat 0 points 9 hours ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandra_Kumari_Gurung

https://www.iar-gwu.org/blog/iar-web/sexual-violence-in

[+] [email protected] -11 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Just to be clear, Skeet is not what you think it means. https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/skeet/

[–] [email protected] 24 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

It absolutely does, https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/skeet-bluesky-slang