I read an interesting connect-the-dots supposition that ties Yoon's attempted "coup" to weapons deliveries to Ukraine. South Korea, a major arms exporter, has a very popular (over 80% of the population according to polls), long-standing policy of refusing to supply arms to countries in conflict. Last March, Biden's crew leaned on Yoon to violate that policy by providing desperately needed 155 millimeter artillery shells to Ukraine by using the U.S. as a transit smokescreen (except that the artillery shells were never delivered to the U.S. but rather furnished directly to Ukraine from South Korea). Then out of the blue and according to reports which have never been confirmed by even a scintilla of credible evidence, North Korea deployed tens of thousands of its troops to support Russia. And some of those troops had even engaged in combat with Ukrainian troops. If Yoon had succeeded in his efforts to successfully sell a contrived national security crisis and declared martial law, count on the fact that South Korean arms and artillery would be pouring into Ukraine.
This all carries the stink of a badly executed, boneheaded intelligence operation to arm the Ukrainians at the behest of the U.S. with the knowledge and approval of the U.S./C.I.A.
"Considering how erratic and reckless Yoon has proved to be, it is absurd how closely the U.S. embraced him before now. He has been the lynchpin for the Biden administration’s plans for closer trilateral cooperation between the U.S., Japan, and South Korea, but he was able to do this only by ignoring South Korean public opinion and disregarding his country’s interests."
While I doubt that Yoon's coup attempt had direct US support (too farcical), State certainly would not have minded if he had succeeded, in particular as Yoon was cooperative in using SK weapons in Ukraine and his opposition were not.
While Yoon may well be replaced, expect the US to demand that Yoon's replacement be another muppet. Same policies, different muppet.
I read an interesting connect-the-dots supposition that ties Yoon's attempted "coup" to weapons deliveries to Ukraine. South Korea, a major arms exporter, has a very popular (over 80% of the population according to polls), long-standing policy of refusing to supply arms to countries in conflict. Last March, Biden's crew leaned on Yoon to violate that policy by providing desperately needed 155 millimeter artillery shells to Ukraine by using the U.S. as a transit smokescreen (except that the artillery shells were never delivered to the U.S. but rather furnished directly to Ukraine from South Korea). Then out of the blue and according to reports which have never been confirmed by even a scintilla of credible evidence, North Korea deployed tens of thousands of its troops to support Russia. And some of those troops had even engaged in combat with Ukrainian troops. If Yoon had succeeded in his efforts to successfully sell a contrived national security crisis and declared martial law, count on the fact that South Korean arms and artillery would be pouring into Ukraine.
This all carries the stink of a badly executed, boneheaded intelligence operation to arm the Ukrainians at the behest of the U.S. with the knowledge and approval of the U.S./C.I.A.
"Considering how erratic and reckless Yoon has proved to be, it is absurd how closely the U.S. embraced him before now. He has been the lynchpin for the Biden administration’s plans for closer trilateral cooperation between the U.S., Japan, and South Korea, but he was able to do this only by ignoring South Korean public opinion and disregarding his country’s interests."
While I doubt that Yoon's coup attempt had direct US support (too farcical), State certainly would not have minded if he had succeeded, in particular as Yoon was cooperative in using SK weapons in Ukraine and his opposition were not.
While Yoon may well be replaced, expect the US to demand that Yoon's replacement be another muppet. Same policies, different muppet.