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.
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.
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.
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.
International
German Authorities Investigate More Than 100 New Cases Against Convicted Nurse
German authorities announced Monday that they are investigating more than 100 additional cases involving a nurse who was sentenced to life in prison in November for the murder of 10 patients.
The man, who was 44 at the time of his conviction, worked in palliative care at a hospital in Würselen, near Aachen. He was also found guilty of 27 attempted murders.
Aachen prosecutors are now examining 121 new cases, a spokesperson for the office said.
Prosecutors leading the investigation are preparing a new indictment that could be filed next year. Nearly 40 bodies have so far been exhumed as part of the investigation, which covers alleged incidents dating back to September 2022.
Meanwhile, prosecutors in the city of Cologne are investigating 18 additional cases. According to a spokesperson, the oldest case dates back to 2010.
Before working at the Würselen hospital, the nurse is believed to have worked at a clinic in eastern Cologne, according to local media reports.
At the time of his November conviction, the court ruled that the severity of his crimes was particularly serious, a finding that would make it difficult for him to obtain early release after 15 years in prison.
Between December 2023 and May 2024, the nurse administered overdoses of sedatives or painkillers to terminally ill patients, most of them elderly, according to the indictment in the original case.
His alleged motive was to sedate patients who required care so that he could minimize his workload during night shifts, prosecutors said.
According to the indictment, the nurse worked «without enthusiasm» and «without motivation». When faced with patients requiring extensive care, he allegedly became «irritated» and showed a lack of empathy.
The case has revived painful memories in Germany of Niels Högel, a former nurse and serial killer who was sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2019 for the murders of at least 85 patients.
International
Venezuela Raises Earthquake Death Toll to 6,301
The death toll from the earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24 has risen to 6,301, while relatives continue searching for missing people among the rubble of collapsed buildings, parliamentary leader Jorge Rodríguez said Monday.
So far, the Venezuelan government has not released an official figure for the number of people missing after the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes, which caused around 190 buildings to collapse, most of them in the coastal state of La Guaira, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Caracas.
The latest figure represents an increase from the 6,125 deaths reported by Venezuelan authorities on August 3.
According to statements made to local media by La Guaira Governor José Alejandro Terán, around 1,400 people were still missing just over a week ago.
Thousands of homes remain at risk
In addition to buildings that completely collapsed, authorities have classified another 9,567 structures as being at «high risk». Meanwhile, 12,411 homes remain under a «restricted» classification.
As a result, many families who lived in these properties have been relocated to temporary shelters or have sought accommodation with relatives and friends.
Nearly 24,000 people left homeless by the disaster are currently living in camps in Caracas and La Guaira, a popular tourist destination whose economy has been severely affected by the earthquakes.
The situation sparked renewed concern among Venezuelans on Monday after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake, with its epicenter in Colombia, was felt across several regions of Venezuela.
The earthquake in Colombia left at least 111 people dead and dozens injured, according to preliminary figures released by authorities in that country.
International
CEAPI Backs Colombia’s New Government and Calls for Greater Public-Private Cooperation
The Ibero-American Business Alliance Council (CEAPI), led by its president, Núria Vilanova, participated in the inauguration ceremony of Abelardo de la Espriella as Colombia’s new president. The events were held on August 7 in Cali and brought together heads of state and institutional representatives from numerous countries.
CEAPI maintains a strong relationship with Colombia as part of its mission to serve as a meeting point between Ibero-American business leaders and the region’s main institutions and governments. The organization has more than 25 members in Colombia, including Jaime Gilinski, Luis Carlos Sarmiento, Omar González and Diego Urrea. In addition, Colombia hosted the seventh CEAPI Ibero-American Congress, held in Cartagena de Indias in 2024.
During his inauguration speech, President De la Espriella identified confidence and economic stability as key pillars of his administration and emphasized the role of private enterprise in Colombia’s future.
He also reaffirmed his intention to govern for all Colombians and strengthen institutional dialogue, while referring to Spain’s democratic transition and the leadership of former Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez.
Vilanova said she has seen this commitment firsthand during meetings with members of the new government, who have expressed their willingness to work closely with business leaders and the private sector to promote economic growth.
According to CEAPI, the government is considering measures aimed at strengthening legal certainty and business confidence, encouraging investment and promoting formal employment.
For Vilanova, Colombia’s new political and economic stage represents an opportunity to demonstrate that «when the public and private sectors are aligned, they can achieve more».
«Colombia has everything it needs to make it happen. And Ibero-American business leaders are ready to support it», she said, adding that CEAPI is already working with the government to organize a future investment delegation to the country.
The organization said the planned visit would seek to strengthen business ties and identify new investment opportunities in Colombia, reinforcing the role of the private sector in the country’s economic development.
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