South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol has been suspended following an impeachment vote in parliament. The move follows Yoon’s decision to declare martial law earlier this month in a bid to end the grinding political deadlock in Asia’s fourth-biggest economy. Yoon’s attempt to use the army to seize power failed and he now faces allegations of high treason.
Even before that saga, the economy was looking “grim”, says Daisuke Wakabayashi in The New York Times. The local Kospi share index is down 6.5% this year and has been one of the world’s worst performers. The won has underperformed other currencies in Asia, hitting its lowest level since March 2009 on 19 December, after the Federal Reserve announced an interest rate cut, say Jihoon Lee and Yena Park in Reuters. Korea is also highly dependent on exports – it recently started selling more to the US than China for the first time in more than two decades – leaving it vulnerable to Donald Trump’s tariff plans.
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