International

Who is Yoon Suk-yeol, the unpopular president of South Korea?

Pressures to remove South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol from power have not stopped since the president briefly and unexpectedly declared martial law, by accusing the opposition of “anti-state activities”, a decision that further erodes his low popularity and can cost him the position.

Embodying a presidency as unpopular as it was weakened to which it reached thanks to the narrow margin of less than 1% by which he imposed himself on liberal Lee Jae-myung in 2022, Yoon (born in Seoul in 1960) is the South Korean leader with the highest negative assessment in history (74%, according to the polling company Gallup Korea) and the first in the country’s democracy not to have control of the General Assembly (Parliament) at any time during his mandate.

The pressure for the president to resign is increasing and six formations, including the main opposition force, the liberal Democratic Party (PD), presented a parliamentary motion to dismiss him on Wednesday, after some of his main advisers, including his chief of staff and his National Security adviser, offered to resign en masse on the same day.

At the same time, the largest trade union group in the country, the Korean Trade Union Confederation (KCTU), called for protests and promised to start an indefinite strike until Yoon takes responsibility for what happened and leaves office, something that citizens also seem to ask out loud.

Orchestrator of his potential fall

A lawyer by training and with a dazzling career in the South Korean Prosecutor’s Office, Yoon could have orchestrated his own fall by assuming the risk of imposing emergency martial law, revoked six hours after Parliament voted in favor of lifting it.

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The decision to activate, with visible political eagerness, a measure designed to “guarantee law and order” in times of war or in case of national emergency and that allows to prohibit political activities, control the media or arrest people without a court order can put an end to a government that owes its low acceptance to factors such as the economic situation, the lack of communication by the president or the management of accusations directed against the first lady, Kim Keon-hee.

Accusations against the first lady

Last night’s surprise announcement came after the PD approved without the support of Yoon’s conservative People’s Power Party (PPP) general budgets for 2025 with multiple cuts.

There were also motions to dismiss the attorney general and the head of the Audit and Inspection Board, in charge of monitoring the accounts of public bodies.

These last two had become the target of the PD due to their refusal to continue investigating or to charge the first lady with different crimes for which she has been scrutinized, from interference in state affairs to manipulation of stock market assets or receiving a luxury bag as a bribe.

Yoon assured that the aforementioned budget cuts would undermine the “essential” functions of the Government, including the prevention of drug-related crimes and public security measures, and considered that the opposition, which he called pro-North Korean, was carrying out “anti-state” actions.

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From the prosecutor’s office to the presidential candidacy

Son of university professors and raised in a neighborhood of Seoul, Yeonhui – once considered prosperous -, Yoon graduated in Law from the prestigious National University of Seoul and made his debut as a prosecutor in 1994.

On the way to becoming attorney general in 2019, he left a trajectory in which he sat on the bench important liberal and conservative politicians, as well as leaders of large national companies such as Hyundai or Samsung.

In addition, he led the special investigation in 2016 against the only South Korean president who has been deposed in democracy, Park Geun-hye.

The ordeal he launched, already as attorney general, to the government of the liberal Moon Jae-in, who sought to reform the prosecutor’s office itself after the investigations opened against the Minister of Justice, Cho Kuk, turned him into a symbol of resistance for conservatives, especially for those who saw in the former president a figure too close to Pyongyang or Beijing.

Thus, without any political experience, he became the candidate of the conservative People’s Power Party (PPP) for the March 2022 presidential elections.

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Yoon managed to win by only 247,000 votes on Lee Jae-myung in elections – the most close that the country has experienced since the return of democracy in 1987 – characterized by the little attachment of the South Koreans to the two main candidates.

Punishment at the polls

Two years later, in April 2024, the polls tremendously punished the ruling formation in a legislative election in which the PPP not only failed to snatch the majority of the PD in Parliament, but was terribly weakened (108 seats against 192 of the opposition).

The elections made it clear that South Koreans consider Yoon someone disconnected – along with the first lady – and unable to solve the economic problems faced by citizens, while suspicions of corruption are piled up.

The leader has also shown absolute disdain for the inequality that affects South Koreans every day, in the country with the largest wage gap in the OECD.

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International

U.S. counterterrorism chief resigns over opposition to war in Iran

Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced Tuesday that he has resigned from his post, citing his opposition to the ongoing war in Iran.

In a post on X, Kent said he could not, “in good conscience,” support the conflict, arguing that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the United States. He also claimed that the war was driven by pressure from Israel and its lobbying influence in Washington.

In a resignation letter addressed to Donald Trump, Kent alleged that at the start of the current administration, senior Israeli officials and influential figures in U.S. media carried out a disinformation campaign that undermined the “America First” platform and fostered pro-war sentiment aimed at triggering a conflict with Iran.

Kent further stated that he could not support sending a new generation of Americans to “fight and die in a war that provides no benefit to the American people and does not justify the cost in American lives.”

Since the United States and Israel launched attacks against Iran on February 28, at least 13 U.S. service members have been killed, while 10 others have been seriously wounded and around 200 have sustained minor injuries, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal.

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International

German president warns Iran war could spread and disrupt Strait of Hormuz

The president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, warned Monday that the war involving Iran could expand and further disrupt shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. He urged a swift end to hostilities between Iran, United States and Israel.

Speaking in Panama City during a joint appearance with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, Steinmeier said available information suggests Iran has significant capacity to disrupt maritime traffic through the key oil route.

“Iran has considerable potential to interfere with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,” Steinmeier said through an interpreter. “We should therefore reach an end to the hostilities as soon as possible and call on all parties involved to make that happen.”

The remarks came during Steinmeier’s visit to Panama, the first by a German president to the Central American nation.

The German leader described the possibility of the conflict spreading as “very dangerous,” saying recent developments indicate that such a scenario cannot be ruled out.

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Over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump urged allied nations to help ensure safe passage for ships through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran moved to block the waterway in response to U.S. strikes. However, several allies—particularly in Europe—have shown little support for the proposal.

“Some are very enthusiastic, others are not, and some are countries we have helped for many years,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We have protected them from terrible external threats, and they’re not that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm is important to me.”

Meanwhile, Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said the Strait of Hormuz falls “outside NATO’s scope” and stressed that “the war involving Iran is not Europe’s war.”

International

Mexico security chief meets DEA director in Washington to boost anti-drug cooperation

Mexico’s Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, Omar García Harfuch, met in Washington with the head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Terrance Cole, to discuss cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking and illegal arms flows.

The Mexican official said Monday on social media that he attended the meeting in representation of the Mexican government’s Security Cabinet.

“In Washington, D.C., I represented the Security Cabinet to hold talks with DEA Director Terrance Cole on the importance of strengthening bilateral cooperation to combat drug trafficking, curb the flow of weapons into our country, and reduce violence in Mexico through significant arrests,” García Harfuch wrote.

He added that, following instructions from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, the government will continue strengthening international cooperation on security matters.

For his part, Cole said the meeting focused on cross-border collaboration to tackle drug trafficking and to build safer communities on both sides of the border.

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The meeting comes as Mexico and the United States begin a new round of dialogue on economic and security issues.

Earlier Monday, President Claudia Sheinbaum said she will look for the “best moment” to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump, adding that maintaining a good relationship with Washington is a priority for her administration.