Wow. A lot has happened in South Korea in the past twelve hours. I hesitate to post this, because I don't know what the next twelve hours might bring, but for the moment things are looking up.
First President Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law in South Korea, vaguely blaming supposed pro-North Korean elements active in the South. He did this at midnight Korean time, perhaps hoping it was a good time to spring a fait accompli on the nation. But thousands of protesters hit the streets, including hundreds of members of the National Assembly, who pushed their way past police and soldiers into the Assembly building. They then voted overwhelmingly (CNN says unanimously) to overturn the decree; this included not only the opposition but Yoon's own party. A few hours later, at about 5 a.m. Korean time, Yoon backed down, saying that he would retract the declaration as soon as his cabinet could meet to confirm it. As I write this, it appears that the cabinet has met and martial law has been lifted.
US and other Western media have reacted predictably enough. CNN titled this Youtube clip "Yoon backtracks after plunging South Korea into chaos with martial law order," and the word "chaos" appeared in the reports of some other networks. But it doesn't look to me like there was chaos, not even in CNN's reporting. The protests were orderly, the assembly members pushed past the cops in an organized manner, and voted Yoon's declaration down. At about that point, the military trucks dispersed. But you know, the corporate media hate it when the rabble talk back to their betters: they can't see it as anything but chaos. (Or CHOAS, as this outlet spelled it.)
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CNN's analyst wasn't bad either, in an Old-Asia-Hand way. The anchors, on the other hand, were dreadful, spouting every cliche they could think of.
CBS' coverage was about the same, a mixed bag leading off with the obligatory reference to "chaos." Their reporter, a White House correspondent traveling with Joe Biden in Angola, reads a preliminary NSC statement announcing America's "serious concern" about Yoon's action. Yoon hadn't notified either Biden or other elements of the US government of his intention, and caught them by surprise. Biden said he was still being briefed. The reporter, Willie James Inman, evidently has some experience in South Korea, but is more concerned to boost Biden's diplomacy in northeast Asia. He says that South Korea "isn't necessarily in the best neighborhood" and mentions the "storied history", with "tense moments" between Korea and Japan. That's an interesting way to describe the thirty-five year occupation of Korea by Japan, of notable harshness and cruelty, including a serious attempt to eliminate Korean language and culture, but hey - time constraints.
I have the impression that corporate-media coverage of Korea has improved in the past couple of decades, but it was so desultory and ignorant before that that's not saying much. At the moment I'm just relieved that this crisis seems to have been resolved so quickly. Our reporters speculated about Yoon's political future: can he stay in office? He was already very unpopular, even for a South Korean President; again, comparable to his right-wing predecessors like Lee Myoung-bak and Park Geun-hye. (Despite South Koreans' determination to preserve their democracy, they still keep voting in dangerous right-wingers every other term. Korean democracy is counterbalanced by Korean authoritarianism.) There have already been calls for Yoon's resignation, and since his own party stomped on his overreach this time, he may not be able to stay in office. Or maybe he will; I'm not going to predict or even speculate. My main concern, again, is the people of Korea, which includes numerous friends of mine, people I've known for decades. It looks like they've dodged a bullet, and I'm very relieved, though probably not as relieved as they are.
