Picture of the Day: Presidential Order
Defense Minister Song Young-moo (C) presides over a hastily convened meeting of top military officers at the ministry in Seoul on July 16, 2018. The meeting came after President Moon Jae-in ordered the military to submit all documents to his office that are related to an alleged proposal by the Defense Security Command, a military intelligence unit, to consider imposing martial law to deal with possible unrest from nationwide protests last year demanding the ouster of then-President Park Geun-hye. (Yonhap)
The purge begins
I am not an expert on the South Korean consitution or on military matters, but my understanding has always been that militaries are always planning. The word “scenario” was first used widely in reference to the military. In the US National Guard way back when, we studied and practiced controlling civil disorders (show of overwhelming force, crowd dispersal techniques, baton training). Were we thus planning to suppress the citizenry? Holy Cow. I had no idea. I thought we were training for Just In Case.