South Korean investigators managed to arrest impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday while avoiding a violent clash in the middle of Seoul. But the nation’s troubles are far from over.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is sending more and more troops to fight Ukraine and testing new missiles at home after striking an alliance with Russia. South Korea’s economy is slowing just as the nation suffered its worst-ever aviation disaster. And Donald Trump is threatening new tariffs while demanding more money for U.S. troops, who have helped defend the nation since the 1950s.
With Yoon’s impeachment trial set to drag on for several months — a process separate from the criminal insurrection probe that led to the unprecedented arrest of a sitting president on Wednesday — the mood in Seoul is grim. Still reeling from Yoon’s shock move to declare martial law last month, bureaucrats around the capital are doing their best to keep the economy moving and prepare for Trump without any clear political direction.
