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Korea’s Democratic Party Threatens to Impeach the Third President this Month If They Don’t Get Their Way

If the Democratic Party does yet another impeachment this would actually support Yoon’s rationale of why he tried to declare martial law. The Democratic Party is dangerously paralyzing the government for partisan political reasons:

Acting President Choi Sang-mok leaves the government complex in Jongno District, central Seoul, on his way to the site of the plane crash in Muan, South Jeolla, on Sunday morning. [YONHAP]

Acting President Choi Sang-mok leaves the government complex in Jongno District, central Seoul, on his way to the site of the plane crash in Muan, South Jeolla, on Sunday morning. [YONHAP]

Despite the growing risk that the country could be left without a government to mount effective responses to serious crises, hard-liners in the liberal Democratic Party (DP) have suggested impeaching more ministers to neutralize the Cabinet’s ability to stonewall legislation should Choi not cooperate with the DP-controlled National Assembly. 

At least 11 members of the 21-member Cabinet must be present for the council to hold meetings, where it considers bills and issues directives. Six Cabinet-level positions are currently empty due to impeachments or resignations. 

One of the DP’s reasons for impeaching Han was his refusal to immediately appoint the legislature’s three nominees for the Constitutional Court, which will decide the outcome of Yoon’s impeachment trial. 

For Yoon’s impeachment to be upheld, at least six justices must agree on his removal from office. 

The court must therefore be unanimous with its current six-member composition to finalize his dismissal. 

In recent comments, DP Rep. Jang Kyung-tae said his party “should impeach several Cabinet members,” including Choi, if he also delays appointing more justices to the court. 

(Joong Ang Ilbo)

You can read more at the link.

Is YouTube to Blame for Martial Law Attempt in South Korea?

That is what the Joong Ang Ilbo is speculating on:

A YouTuber is livestreaming conservative People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon entering a voting booth for the parliamentary elections on April 10, 2024, in Seodaemun District, western Seoul. [NEWS1]

One month ago, far-right political YouTuber and popular pundit Ko Sung-kook uploaded  videos that mirrored the president’s televised public address, including the tone and rhetoric.   

“No one trusts the polls and the NEC [National Election Commission] anymore. They carry the votes around in a basket and are a severe threat to democracy. They should not be trusted,” Ko is filmed telling his 1.1 million subscribers.  

Ko is just one in an ecosystem of far-right political YouTubers who support their beliefs by stretching the truth and spreading unfounded ideas that extend to conspiracy theories.  (Joong Ang Ilbo)

You can read more at the link, but basically the Korean public has lost faith in legacy media and has turned to YouTube personalities for what they believe is less bias news. Yoon is supposedly a big consumer of these conservative YouTube personalities and was sold on election fraud by listening to them.

All Passengers Except for Two Feared Dead After Jeju Air Crash in Muan

This is unbelievably tragic. Condolences to all the families impacted by this awful plane crash:

At least 122 people have died and two were rescued after a Jeju Air passenger jet carrying 181 people erupted in flames as it went off the runway and hit a wall at an airport in South Korea’s southwestern county of Muan on Sunday, authorities said. All but the two are presumed to have been killed.

The accident happened at 9:07 a.m., when the Jeju Air flight veered off the runway while landing and collided with a fence wall at Muan International Airport in the Muan county, South Jeolla Province, about 288 kilometers southwest of Seoul. (Yonhap)

You can read more at the link, but acting President Choi Sang-mok was pretty impressive getting himself quickly to the crash site on a Sunday and showing despite the current political uncertainty he is in charge.

Additionally from what I am seeing on social media it is believed a bird strike may have damaged an engine and impacted the landing gear prior to touching down in Muan. Whoever the two survivors were they were extremely lucky to survive this horrible crash.

ROK Head Assistance with a Paper Grading Experiment

I received a request to see if my readers could read and grade a college paper on Japanese Literature and History and provide a A+ through F grade on it. It is an experiment to see how readers would grade this paper compared to the professor. If you are interested click this link to read the paper and then post a grade in comments section. Below is an excerpt from the introduction. Thanks for the assistance!