Latest news with #politicalTurmoil
Free Malaysia Today
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
South Korea's Yoon attends hearing on detention warrant
Yoon Suk Yeol is expected to be held at the Seoul detention centre if he is detained. (AP pic) SEOUL : South Korea's former president Yoon Suk Yeol appeared today at a Seoul court, which is considering a special prosecutor's request to detain him as part of a probe into his botched bid to impose martial law. The Seoul central district court began hearing arguments from the special counsel team investigating Yoon's martial law decree in December and from Yoon's legal team on the request to detain the deposed president over allegations of abuse of power and obstruction of justice. After the hearing, Yoon will await the court's decision at the Seoul detention centre, about 20km south of the capital, the special prosecutor said. Yoon, who was wearing a dark navy suit and a red tie, did not answer questions from reporters as he entered the court building. About 100 supporters gathered near the court, holding flags and signs, chanting 'President Yoon' and 'Yoon Again' in the stifling heat of about 35°C. Scores of police officers and dozens of buses formed a tight security cordon in front of Yoon's house as well as around the court, which is expected to announce a decision late today or in the early hours of tomorrow. Yoon was ousted in April by the constitutional court, which upheld his impeachment by parliament for his martial law bid that shocked South Koreans and triggered months of political turmoil, entrenching already deep divisions in the country. The former conservative president is already under a criminal trial on charges that his attempt to rule the country using martial law amounted to an insurrection, a charge that is punishable by a life sentence or even death. But the probe has picked up pace since the special prosecution began its investigation after liberal President Lee Jae Myung was elected in June and has been looking at additional charges, including accusations that Yoon mobilised presidential guards to stop authorities from arresting him in January. He was previously taken into custody over the earlier criminal probe, but was released from jail after 52 days on technical grounds. The detention warrant request was made on the grounds of Yoon posing a flight risk and concerns that he might interfere with witnesses linked to his case, local media reported, citing the special prosecutors' request. If Yoon is detained, he is expected to be held at the Seoul detention centre, and the special prosecution is expected to speed up a probe into additional allegations, including whether Yoon hurt South Korea's interests by intentionally inflaming tensions with North Korea. Yoon's lawyers have rejected all the allegations against him, saying the detention warrant request is unreasonable and the investigation lacks objective evidence.
CNA
09-07-2025
- Politics
- CNA
South Korea ex-leader Yoon returns to jail as court grants warrant
SEOUL: Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol returned to jail on Thursday (Jul 9) after a court approved a warrant sought by prosecutors investigating his attempt to impose martial law last year. The Seoul Central District Court's decision bolstered the special counsel investigation into allegations that Yoon's move in December represented obstruction of justice and abuse of power. The court said in a statement it granted the request because of concerns Yoon could seek to destroy evidence. The conservative politician already faces criminal charges of insurrection over his martial law decree, and that could carry a sentence of life in prison or death. The former president returned to confinement in the Seoul Detention Center about 20 km south of the capital after the decision. He spent 52 days in jail earlier in the year but was released four months ago on technical grounds. The Constitutional Court ousted him as president in April, upholding parliament's impeachment for the martial law bid, which shocked South Koreans and triggered months of political turmoil. The special prosecution team launched its investigation after new leader Lee Jae Myung was elected in June, and it has been looking into additional charges against Yoon. The special counsel team is now expected to speed up its probe into allegations, including whether Yoon hurt South Korea's interests by intentionally inflaming tensions with North Korea. Yoon attended the court hearing on Wednesday on the detention warrant, wearing a dark navy suit and a red tie, but did not answer questions from reporters. His lawyers have denied the allegations against him and called the detention request an unreasonable move in a hasty investigation. More than 1,000 supporters rallied near the court on Wednesday, local media reported, waving flags and signs and chanting Yoon's name in the heat of 35 degrees Celsius.
BBC News
09-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
South Korea's ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol rearrested
South Korea's former president has been rearrested over last year's failed martial law bid that plunged the country into political turmoil. Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached in April over the order, which saw military rule introduced for six-hours in December. A senior judge at Seoul's Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for Yoon on Wednesday, citing fears he could destroy who was the first sitting South Korean president to be arrested, faces trial on charges of leading an insurrection over his attempt to impose martial law. During Wednesday's seven-hour hearing, a special counsel team argued for the arrest warrant on five key charges, South Korean news agency Yonhap charges include Yoon's alleged violation of the rights of cabinet members by not inviting some of them to a meeting before he declared martial initially attended the hearing alongside his lawyers to deny the charges, before being taken to Seoul Detention Center to await a decision on an arrest was first arrested in January following a lengthy stand-off, with investigators scaling barricades and cutting through barbed wire to take him into custody from his residence in central Seoul. Yoon was released two months later after a court overturned his arrest on technical grounds, but still faces found guilty, he could face life in prison or the death have reportedly found evidence that Yoon ordered military drones to be flown over North Korea to provoke a reaction that would justify his martial law declaration, according to reports. Other senior officials also face charges including insurrection and abuse of authority over the martial law is one of a small number of criminal charges from which South Korean presidents do not have immunity, but now Yoon is no longer president he is open to other criminal Korea's new president, Lee Jae-myung, was elected in June following a snap election after Yoon's campaigned on the promise to strengthen the country's democracy following the crisis and appointed a special counsel team to investigate Yoon over the imposition of martial-law, as well as other criminal allegations surrounding his administration.
Bloomberg
07-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Thai Baht's Surge at Risk From Turmoil, Top Forecaster Says
The Thai baht's four-month rally is likely to falter as political turmoil is expected to weigh on the economy, according to the currency's top forecaster. The local currency may trade at 32.30 per dollar at the end of the year and into the first quarter of 2026, said Christoper Wong, senior FX strategist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. That implies the baht would be just 0.7% stronger than its level on Monday, after surging more than 5% in the four months through June.
Reuters
02-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
UK PM gives full backing to Reeves after tearful appearance in parliament
LONDON, July 2 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office rushed to give finance minister Rachel Reeves his full backing on Wednesday after she appeared in tears in parliament following a series of U-turns on welfare reforms that blew a hole in her budget plans. Reeves looked exhausted and appeared to brush away tears during the half-hour session of Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons. Her spokesperson said it was a personal matter. British borrowing costs rose and the pound fell as the weekly question-and-answer session unfolded on TV, with market analysts saying the moves reflected fears that Reeves would be replaced, throwing the government into further turmoil. Asked about Reeves, a Treasury spokesperson said: "It's a personal matter, which - as you would expect - we are not going to get into." Starmer's press secretary told reporters: "The chancellor is going nowhere, she has the prime minister's full backing." The pressure on Reeves comes after the government managed to pass its welfare reform bill, but only after it removed measures that would have led to savings in the long run. Reeves has repeatedly emphasised her commitment to self-imposed fiscal rules, limiting the amount Britain will borrow to try to build the confidence of investors. But that ambition collided with Labour members of parliament who were opposed to the scale of the cuts to welfare, and who said Reeves was being cruel in pushing for billions of pounds of savings from some of the most vulnerable people in society. Opposition politicians and economists said the decision to sharply scale back the welfare reforms meant the government would have to raise taxes or cut spending elsewhere to balance the public finances in the annual budget later this year. One Labour member of parliament, who asked not to be named, said Reeves was upset after an argument with the House of Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle. A spokesperson for Hoyle declined to comment. The opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch singled out Reeves during the weekly set-piece parliamentary session, in which lawmakers put questions to the prime minister in often-raucous exchanges, saying: "She's pointing at me, she looks absolutely miserable." Reeves animatedly gestured back. Badenoch said: "She is a human shield for his incompetence. In January, he said that she would be in post until the next election. Will she really?" Starmer then responded that Badenoch would not be in her job by then, but did not explicitly back Reeves. The appearance of Reeves in tears put British government bonds on track for their biggest daily selloff since October 10, 2022, when financial markets were still reeling from former Prime Minister Liz Truss's decision to announce big, unfunded tax cuts. The pound fell almost 1% on Wednesday. Starmer's press secretary later said the prime minister had expressed his confidence in Reeves many times and did not need to repeat it every time a political opponent speculated on her position. The Treasury spokesperson said Reeves would be working out of Downing Street on Wednesday afternoon. Asked if Reeves had offered her resignation, Starmer's press secretary said: "no".
