CFR (Council on Foreign Relations) Daily News Brief - December 4, 2024 - South Korea’s Yoon Faces Impeachment Motion After Short-Lived Martial Law Episode

 

Daily News Brief December 4, 2024

Top of the Agenda South Korea’s Yoon Faces Impeachment Motion After Short-Lived Martial Law Episode South Korean opposition parties today introduced plans to vote on President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment following a fast-moving political crisis that saw Yoon introduce and then rescind martial law within a period of hours. Yoon said the measure was necessary to prevent paralysis and domination by “antistate” forces, but it prompted street protests and the legislature voted unanimously to reject it. The events sparked global expressions of concern. Seoul under Yoon has stepped up South Korea’s security alliance with Washington; the top U.S. envoy in Seoul welcomed the withdrawal of the martial law decree and said Washington was “encouraged by the resilience” of South Korea’s democracy. The impeachment vote could occur as early as Friday; its approval would require support from some legislators from Yoon’s party, who were not among the original sponsors. A number of senior South Korean officials including the defense minister have already offered their resignations today. If Yoon is impeached, his removal would depend on a subsequent trial. (Yonhap, WaPo)

Analysis “The good news is the democratic institutions—the rule of law—in South Korea held,” CFR President Emeritus Richard Haass tells MSNBC. “It’s, I think, an open question whether President Yoon can politically recover from what looks to me [like] a self-inflicted wound, and it’s just a reminder of how vulnerable American foreign policy is, for all of our economic and security commitments, to the internal dynamics of our allies.”   “The events that led to Mr. Yoon’s stunning declaration on Tuesday—and his decision six hours later to lift the decree after Parliament voted to block it—were set in motion well before his razor-thin [election] victory. They were a dramatic illustration of South Korea’s bitterly polarized politics and the deep societal discontent beneath the surface of its rising global might,” the New York Times’ Alan Yuhas writes.  This CFR timeline looks at the U.S.-South Korea alliance.

Europe French Government Faces No-Confidence Vote France’s three-month-old government confronts a no-confidence vote in the legislature today after Prime Minister Michel Barnier tried to push through an unpopular budget without parliamentary approval. France’s deeply fractured parliament does not have a party with a majority, but in rare agreement both the left-wing and far-right coalitions brought motions forward to oust Barnier. No government in France has collapsed from such a vote in more than sixty years. (RFI, AP)   Russia/Ukraine: A report by a Yale research lab backed by the U.S. State Department said that 314 Ukrainian children were placed in a “systematic program of coerced adoption and fostering” that received direct support from the Russian presidency since February 2022. It adds to evidence about deportations that are already the source of an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin. (NYT) This Backgrounder by Claire Klobucista and CFR’s Mariel Ferragamo has the latest on the ICC’s warrants.

Pacific Rim Chinese Industry Associations Warn Firms Against Using U.S.-Made Chips The warning said that U.S.-made chips “are no longer safe” for Chinese tech firms and they should buy locally. U.S. firms Nvidia, AMD, and Intel have continued selling chips in China despite broader bilateral trade tensions; they did not immediately comment on the news. (Reuters)

South and Central Asia China, Nepal Sign Framework for Belt and Road Cooperation Nepal originally announced its intent to participate in China’s Belt and Road Initiative in 2017, but no projects had materialized since. The new framework signed today is designed to move them forward. China moved to make the language in the deal vaguer than Nepal had sought to suggest that some of the financing Beijing provides will be in loans rather than grants. (Times of India, Kathmandu Post) Bangladesh/India: Bangladesh summoned India’s top envoy yesterday after an attack on a Bangladeshi consulate in a border city. Bilateral tensions have risen since the ousting of former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is residing in India as Dhaka seeks her extradition. (AFP, AP, Reuters)

Middle East and North Africa Syrian Military, Rebels Battle Near City of Hama The two sides clashed around three miles northeast of the city of Hama, state media and the United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Russian and Syrian air strikes on rebel-held areas of northwest Syria have continued in recent days, with residents and rescue workers saying residential areas and medical facilities were hit. (Reuters)   CFR expert Steven A. Cook provides an update on what’s going on in Syria.    U.S./Iran: The U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions on thirty-five entities it said helped a “shadow fleet” move Iranian oil to global markets. It said the funding from such sales financed Iran’s nuclear program and regional proxies. (Newsweek) CFR’s Jonathan Masters and Will Merrow visualize Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

Sub-Saharan Africa Namibia Elects Nandi-Ndaitwah, First Woman President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah ran as the candidate from the ruling South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) party and earned 57.3 percent of votes, according to the country’s electoral commission. Opposition leaders boycotted the results in protest. SWAPO has ruled since Namibia’s independence more than three decades ago. (NYT)    Sudan: The paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shelled part of the Zamzam refugee camp, aid volunteers and workers from Doctors Without Borders said. The camp shelters at least half a million people and a global food monitor in August said it was experiencing famine. The RSF denied attacking the camp. (Reuters) CFR’s Sabine Baumgartner and Mariel Ferragamo cover the devastation in Sudan.

Americas Mexico’s Lower Legislative House Approves Constitutional Bans on e-Cigarettes, Vapes Mexico’s former president outlawed the products by decree but they remain widely available; the proposed ban would come in the form of a constitutional amendment. It now advances to the Senate where the ruling party has a large majority. The amendment also elevates prohibitions on illicit use of fentanyl to be enshrined in the constitution. (Reuters) Venezuela: The UN Human Rights Council opened a probe into reports that President  Nicolás Maduro’s government stole the July 2024 election and ordered the country not to destroy any evidence from the election, such as tally sheets from voting machines. Maduro plans to begin a third term in January. (AP)

United States Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Case on Medical Treatments for Transgender Youth The case brought by the Joe Biden administration considers whether states can ban certain gender-affirming care procedures for trans minors. Some two dozen states have enacted such bans since 2021. (CNN, Bloomberg) For Think Global Health, Beirne Roose-Snyder explains how U.S. health policy abroad affects LGBTQ+ care.

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