South Korea Martial Law Coup FAILED! Who, What, When, Where, Why Explained & 5 More Things to Know
PDS Published 12/3/2024
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There is a bunch of crazy shit going down in South Korea right now.
Now, keep in mind, all of this is developing as I’m recording, so things could shift a lot in the next few hours, but I’m going to break down what we know now.
So, all this started when South Korea’s President Yoon suddenly declared martial law in a late-night TV address.
And this is an absolutely massive deal — right, first of all, it marked the first time in over 50 years that martial law has been declared.
And the first time since South Korea’s military dictatorship ended and the country became a Democracy.
What’s more, the declaration was incredibly restrictive, banning “all political activities” and allowing Yoon to take command of the news media, among other measures.
Now, as far as why Yoon made this unprecedented move, it comes amid an ongoing battle with the political opposition —
Which controls the National Assembly and won by a landslide in the last general election, effectively making him a lame-duck president.
And in his speech invoking martial law, Yoon claimed that the opposition was plotting “insurgency” and “trying to overthrow the free democracy.”
Accusing them of being pro-North Korean, anti-state, communist forces, and saying martial law was needed to “eradicate” those threats.
But, on the other side, you have opposition leaders and others accusing Yoon of a blatant power-grab — with some even going as far as to describe his efforts as an attempted coup.
Hell, even the leader of Yoon’s OWN party condemned the move, calling it “wrong.”
Many also alleging that he’s doing this to lash out at the opposition, which has essentially prevented him from passing any bills.
This notably includes next year’s budget bill, which Yoon’s party and the opposition have continued to disagree over.
Beyond that, they’ve also been hounding him over various scandals and corruption cases, with him dismissing calls for investigations.
This not only including cases involving Yoon’s top officials, who the opposition has attempted to impeach, but also his wife.
Which is why we saw the leader of the opposition party condemning and vowing that the National Assembly will block the decree, saying:
“There is no reason to declare martial law. We cannot let the military rule this country.”
Adding, “President Yoon’s illegal declaration of emergency martial law is null and void.”
But this is where things start to get really messy.
Right, as you might remember, the martial law order bans all political activities.
And according to South Korea’s official news agency, after Yoon’s announcement, the military proclaimed that the National Assembly and other political gatherings would be suspended.
But despite that, we saw thousands of protestors filling the streets near the National Assembly demanding that Yoon resign.
What’s more, after the declaration, the speaker of the National Assembly called on lawmakers to convene, and while it was reported that the military had blocked the entrance, enough of them were able to get in.
Though some members did report having to push past the blockade, with one even filming it.
And the chief spokesman for the opposition party did say that the military officials who entered the parliament building tried to arrest the opposition leader and the speaker of the National Assembly, though evidently they were unsuccessful.
But eventually, 190 members of the 300-member assembly managed to gather.
And around 2 hours after Yoon’s martial law decree, all 190 of those lawmakers voted to block the declaration.
Eliciting cheers from the lawmakers inside and the protestors outside.
But, despite that majority vote, local outlets reported that South Korean military officials have said that martial law will remain in place until President Yoon lifts it himself.
Though both the speaker of the National Assembly and other local media outlets have reported that the martial law troops and police have begun withdrawing from the parliament building.
And the protests outside have still been allowed to continue.
But, as of recording, it’s now been several hours since the assembly voted to lift martial law, and Yoon has yet to respond.
And that is really significant because, South Korean law explicitly states that if the assembly demands an end to martial law, the president must lift it “without delay.”
But right now, the whole country is in this weird legal standoff.
Right, on one hand, you have the president declaring martial law and making it illegal for the National Assembly to convene.
But then you have the National Assembly says THAT is illegal and convenes anyway to lift martial law.
And meanwhile, the military seems to be parroting the president but then also not totally enforcing martial law, because if they did, the lawmakers and protestors who gathered would be arrested.
So it’s really unclear what’s going to go down next, and you have much of the world waiting with bated breath.
So for now, we’ll just have to keep an eye on this situation.
But remember, this is developing, so a lot can change over night — and, of course, if it does, we’ll be there to tell you about it tomorrow.
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It’s official; Elon Musk is now the world’s first man to suffer a 56 billion dollar cock block twice.
So first, let’s start with the cock, and then we’ll get to the block.
Beginning in 2018, when Tesla’s board approved an enormous pay package in company stock worth 56 billion dollars for Musk. [Image and headline]
With that payout being conditional on a series of performance goals over the following years.
Namely some ambitious sales and revenue targets, as well as a 650 billion dollar market value. [Quote, find “650”]
And of course, those goals were met; Tesla’s now worth over a trillion dollars. [Market cap]
Meaning his pay package would be worth around 100 billion dollars today. [Quote, find “100 billion”]
Or in other words, a very, very big cock.
But in 2018, Tesla shareholder Richard Tornetta objected to Musk’s compensation, arguing in a lawsuit that the negotiations were unfair.
And here comes the first block; in January, Delaware Judge Kathleen McCormick sided with Tornetta. [Headline]
Ruling that Musk would have to return the stock options, which could knock him off his pedestal as the richest man on Earth.
With her arguing that Musk basically controlled the process using his influence over the company and close ties to several board members. [Quote, find “close ties”]
Writing, “Put simply, neither the compensation committee nor the board acted in the best interests of the company when negotiating Musk’s compensation plan. In fact, there is barely any evidence of negotiations at all.” [Quote]
With her citing an incident in which Musk described an early version of the deal as "me negotiating against myself.” [Quote]
And adding, “Swept up by the rhetoric of ‘all upside,’ or perhaps starry-eyed by Musk’s superstar appeal, the board never asked the $55.8 billion question: Was the plan even necessary for Tesla to retain Musk and achieve its goals?” [Quote]
So that decision came as a shock to Musk, but he still had a chance to change the judge’s mind.
So in JUne, the holders of 72% of Tesla’s shares not owned by Musk himself or his brother voted to reaffirm the pay package. [Quote, find “72”]
But at the time, critics pointed to past comments by Musk that arguably could’ve made Tesla shareholders feel like they were held hostage.
Like when he threatened to focus his artificial intelligence work at his other companies if he didn’t get greater voting control. [Quote, find “voting control”]
Or when he admitted to diverting Nvidia AI chips meant for Tesla to X. [Same quote]
So yesterday, Judge Mccormick ruled again that Musk has to return the pay package, calling his lawyers’ reasoning “fatally flawed” and at times “indefensible.” [Quote]
With her arguing that the company can’t simply wipe away the results of its previous misconduct by persuading a majority of shareholders to approve that conduct retrospectively. [Quote, find “retrospectively”]
Saying that if courts condoned “the practice of allowing defeated parties to create new facts for the purpose of revising judgments, lawsuits would become interminable.” [Quote]
So naturally, Musk used one of his other companies, X, to blast McCormick.
Writing that “shareholders should control company votes, not judges.” [Tweet]
And sharing a post calling her an "activist judge at its worst.” [Tweet]
But less reported on is the fact that another part of McCormick’s ruling actually favored Musk.
With her flattly shooting down a request by the plaintiff’s lawyers to get 5.6 billion dollars worth of Tesla stock to pay their legal fees. [Quote, find “5.6”]
Awarding them just 345 million dollars in cash or Tesla stock instead.
Now as for what happens next, Tesla has vowed to appeal the ruling to a higher court. [Tweet]
But fun fact, Richard Tornetta, the shareholder who kicked all this off, used to be the drummer for a heavy metal band that once described its sound as “a swift kick to the face with a steel-toed work boot.” [Quote]
[Clip, 00:23 - 00:28, If this is copyrighted, just cut it]
And ironically, that’s also a very apt description of the potential effect his lawsuit could have on Musk’s fortune.
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Is it demure to be holding space for the costco guys or are you delulu?
If you understood that nonsensical sentence in any capacity, you might have an increasingly common condition known as brainrot, but you are not alone.
Because “brainrot” was just named Oxford University’s word of the year, defining it as:
“Supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as a result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging.”
And yeah, tons of dictionaries pick words of the year every year, but this one has made a ton of headlines as it ties to a question that a lot of people are wondering: is constant scrolling on social media rotting my brain?
With the President of Oxford Languages saying in a statement that:
“‘Brain rot’ speaks to one of the perceived dangers of virtual life, and how we are using our free time. It feels like a rightful next chapter in the cultural conversation about humanity and technology.”
Saying it is especially interesting to see how young generations, like Gen Z and Gen Alpha, have adopted it, explaining:
“These communities have amplified the expression through social media channels, the very place said to cause ‘brain rot’. It demonstrates a somewhat cheeky self-awareness in the younger generations about the harmful impact of social media that they’ve inherited.”
And while it certainly seems like a new term, its first recorded use comes from Henry David Thoreau in 1854, but its use has increased a whopping 250% between 2023 and 2024.
And its impact on us as people kind of fits two spheres: the way our language is evolving, and the way social media is actually impacting our brains.
Earlier this year, NBC News did a piece exploring “brainrot” and how conversations are getting harder to understand if you are, say, not super online and talking to someone who is.
With the outlet noting that slang has always been a generational trend, but now its just moving so much faster with younger generations because of the internet, with one linguist explaining:
“Nothing is inherently new about how words are evolving…But we are seeing the internet is causing language change to happen faster. It’s causing it to happen more tied to maybe social media trends than ever before … because social media algorithms are rewarding trending words.”
Which is why you had the parent of two teens telling the outlet:
“Every day there’s just another set of terms. They’ll just be talking, and my husband and I are kind of like, ‘We’re not sure what that means.’”
Another parent adding that when he asks his kids to explain this stuff, he just ends up confused.
But then comes the question of, for the people in on it, who can look at these images and know exactly what they mean or what they are referring to, just how badly cooked are our brains?
Well, over the summer a study did find that for teens diagnosed with internet addiction, they had disruptions in their brain regions that control attention and memory.[]
But you also had Michael Rich, the founder of the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital, telling the New York Times that brainrot itself is less an addiction to the internet and more a coping mechanism for people who might have other problems that lead them to use scrolling to numb themselves. []
So he said the debate should be less about phone usage being good vs bad and more about healthy and unhealthy habits.
With one student advisor at the lab saying:
“Villainizing your phone and social media just simply is not realistic in this day and age. Telling kids, ‘Oh, you’re better off without your phone,’ or trying to make them feel bad for wanting to use their phone isn’t the best way to go about the situation, because all that does is just make people want to do it more.”
And so I would love to know your thoughts on this, on brainrot, if you think you have it, if you are trying to get rid of it, or where you think the problem starts right.
Are there levels of brain rot that are fine, and then some that are clearly an issue?
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Y’all grab your popcorn, because it’s time for our new segment: word of the day!
And today the word is “minimum.”
Which Merriam-Webster defines as “the least quantity assignable, admissible, or possible.” [Quote]
But apparently, when it comes to the federal minimum wage, that word loses all meaning.
Because there are legal exceptions that let some people get paid less than seven-twenty-five an hour, and no, I’m not just talking about prison labor.
Rather, we’re looking at the roughly 37,000 disabled workers currently being paid subminimum wages in the U.S., sometimes literally pennies per hour. [Quote, find “37”]
Right, section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 created a program for people, typically with intellectual or developmental disabilities, to work in what are known as “sheltered workshops.” [Image]
Basically just facilities where they’re segregated from able-bodied workers.
Then, certified employers contract with those workshops, and pay the workers a per-item rate or based on calculations of their productivity relative to able-bodied workers. [Image]
With them usually doing repetitive tasks like packaging, assembly, manufacturing or janitorial work. [Image]
And when this program was first concocted during the Great Depression, it’s purpose was to provide jobs for injured veterans. [Quote, find “veterans”]
But now, it’s morphed into what critics call a loophole for corporations to exploit disabled people.
With the Government Accountability Office finding that from 2019 to 2021, [Image and Quote, find “3.50”]
Workers in the program typically made about three dollars and fifty cents per hour. [Same quote]
But about 12% of them made less than a dollar, with some going as low as just 25 cents, literally a fucking quarter. [Same quote and Quote, find “25 cents”]
And that’s if they even get the pittance they’re owed.
Because The Washington Post found that at least 38% of current certified employers have cheated disabled workers out of millions in pay. [Quote, find “cheated”]
With the Labor Department ordering employers to pay over 20 million dollars in back pay and other violations from 2009 to 2023. [Quote, find “20.2”]
Also, the Post found that the program’s stated goal of helping its workers transition to higher-paying, non-segregated work is a near-total sham.
Right, over two years, only about 2% of workers made a ful transition. [Image and Quote, find “2 percent”]
But as awareness of this program has grown, so has opposition to it.
With 13 states and D.C. already eliminating it entirely. [Quote, find “13 states”]
As well as Illinois, California, Virginia and Nevada moving to do the same, and Texas has partially eliminated the program. [Same quote]
And according to the Post, when states end their programs, overall employment of adults with cognitive disabilities actually increases. [Quote, find “14%”]
Which kind of refutes the argument that disabled people need this program because they can’t get a job without it.
But most of the country still allows subminimum wages, and Republicans in particular are unlikely to get rid of it.
So the Biden administration spent the past year reviewing the program, and today it’s proposing a rule that would phase it out over three years. [Quote, find “three”]
With the acting labor secretary saying:
“With this proposal, the department expects that many workers currently paid subminimum wages ... will move into jobs that pay full wages, which will improve their economic well-being and strengthen inclusion for people with disabilities in the workforce.” [Quote]
Now before it goes into effect, there’s a public comment period that’s expected to wrap up on January 17.
Which, of course, is right before Trump’s inauguration.
So once the new president takes office, his administration will have to review the comments, then issue a final rule or withdraw the proposal entirely.
Which doesn’t bode well for the proposed rule, so it’s likely that subminimum wages will continue to be a thing for the foreseeable future.
But hey, at least now it’s a thing you know is happening, whatever that’s worth.
Links:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/12/03/biden-subminimum-wage-disabilities-14c/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2024/08/30/subminimum-wage-disabled-workers/
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People earning $800,000 a year are getting financial aid to send their children to New York City’s top private schools.
I’m not even kidding — the city’s private schools have gotten so expensive that families making close to a million dollars annually are qualifying for financial aid.
I mean, we’re talking about some of the HIGHEST earners in the country.
But we’re also talking about schools that now charge around $65,000.
And that bit about people who make $800,000 qualifying — that’s not just a number I pulled out of my ass.
Léman (Lay- Mahn) Manhattan Preparatory School — which charges $67,300 a year for most grades — their tuition chart shows that families earning up to $800,000 can qualify for at least some help if they have three children enrolled.
And households that make up to $600,000 can also get aid if they have two children enrolled.
But, of course, that’s not the only school that provides aid to people who make mid-six figures.
The Dalton School says on its website that families that earn $400,000 with “a low to moderate level of personal assets” and have two kids enrolled might qualify for enough aid that they only have to pay just over half of the school’s $64,300 tuition.
And at the all-girls school Chapin (Chay-Pin), where tuition is $65,300, the average household income of families who applied for financial aid was $229,400.
And, to be clear here, just because New York is expensive, that doesn’t mean $229,400 is a standard income — data shows that a family making that much would still be in the top 6% of earners citywide.
But despite that, financial aid officers and experts told The New York Times that these high-earning families who receive financial aid — they shouldn’t be seen “as trying to game the system.”
With The Times explaining:
“It has become legitimately difficult for parents to pay full tuition, at least for more than one child, without earning close to a seven-figure household income — or turning to their own parents for help, which consultants said was an increasingly common practice.”
But I think for a lot of people, it’s hard to imagine making $800,000 a year — or even half that — and asking your parents for money to send your kids to private K-12 schools.
I mean, for them to even be able to help you out, we’re talking about a deep, deep level of generational wealth to begin with.
But all this raises the question: why the hell are these schools so expensive that high-earners can’t afford them if they’re not gajillionaires?
Well, according to The Times, the biggest reason is that there is a lot of staff, allowing families a lower student-to-teacher ratios.
But it’s not just English teachers — these schools pride themselves on extensive offerings, requiring them to hire additional instructors for special extracurriculars like woodworking, ceramics, and playwriting.
You know, very different from public schools where the math teacher is also the basketball coach.
Beyond that, private schools also have more discretionary expenses that, unlike public schools, aren’t covered by taxpayer dollars.
Then, of course, there’s the fact that pay for executives haves has ballooned in recent years.
For example, look at Thomas Kelly, the head of school at Horace Mann — which is one of the single-most esteemed schools in the country — he earned a salary of just under $1.6 million in 2023.
That’s more than double what he was paid in 2014.
And according to the school’s most recent tax filings, Kelly — who also teaches at the school — brought home almost $1.9 million total.
That is a buttload of money period, but especially for someone who runs a school.
Right, just to give you a little compare and contrast, the chancellor of New York City’s public schools makes $414,799 for overseeing the nation’s largest school system.
And that literally makes her the highest-paid employee in all of New York City.
But experts say that these costs are just going to increase.
With Emily Glickman, a private school consultant, saying that she believes they will eventually reach $100,000 a year.
And adding that she expects there to be “collapse” in the number of middle-class students attending private schools.
And the fact that these schools are becoming even more in accessible to anyone other than the ultra-rich is significant because, if you’ve ever watched Gossip Girl, you know that the actual education is just one part of the occasion.
Right, these New York Private schools are extreme pedigrees known for educating some of the most influential people in America.
They are feeders to Ivy Leagues and other top colleges, and they build social connections most of us could only dream of, with one consultant explaining:
“When these kids graduate from college, they will go to their friends’ parents for jobs. You can’t put a price on that.”
But… I mean… you can put a price on that… and it’s super fucking high.
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And then, we gotta talk about Joe Biden being in Angola (An-GO-luh - LISTEN).
Right, because it’s not only his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa as president, it’s the first time ever that a sitting US president has visited this particular country (BROLL: 0:06-0:11).
So let’s unpack why he’s there now, and why a lot of people say it’s about China, and why all of it is so complicated.
To start, you should know, Angola gained independence from Portugal in 1975.
It then fought a decades-long civil war that was in part a proxy conflict between the US and the Soviet Union.
And notably, the US supported the opponents of the country’s largest anticolonial movement, which had embraced communism, during the war. []
And since the end of the war in 2002, China has poured billions of dollars into Angola and the rest of the continent through its Belt and Road Initiative.
Just in September, for example, the Chinese president pledged $50 billion in financial support as well as military aid.[]
And with that, China has also come to dominate the supply of critical minerals on the continent, including copper and cobalt, which are essential to renewable energy technologies and electric vehicles.
With all of this leaving some to wonder whether America can compete at all.
With Ken Opalo (Oh-pall-oh), for example, an associate professor with Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, saying:
"There is no competition. China has spent almost 20 years forging impactful economic ties with almost all African countries - from trade to financing for infrastructure - while the United States and its European allies mostly viewed the continent through the lens of aid and humanitarian crises." []
And with that, the last U.S. president to visit sub-Saharan Africa was Barack Obama in 2015 (BROLL: 0:10-0:15).
And then, Trump? He never visited, not to mention he referred to African nations as ‘shithole’ countries.
But not long after Biden came into office, he was promising a new era in US-Africa relations.
Right, in 2022, saying the US was “all in” on Africa's future.
And with that, pledging 55 billion dollars in aid and investment to the continent, as well as promising to visit in the next year.
But that trip’s been delayed twice, with it now only coming as Biden is on his way out of office, with that reportedly reinforcing a sentiment among some Africans that their continent is still low priority for the US. []
Right, and so you have Oh-pall-oh, the Georgetown Professor, saying:
"The message implied by the timing is hard to miss.”
"Biden had the time and stamina to visit lots of places during his four years in office, but only found time as a lame duck to visit the region.”
And adding: “I think the timing reflects Africa's overall strategic insignificance from the perspective of Washington foreign policy insiders."[]
But on the flip side, you have people saying this is a real, albeit delayed effort by the US and its allies to start catching up with Chinese investment on the continent, with Angola now getting caught in the middle.
Though, notably, both American and Angolan officials have pushed back on the idea that this is about competing with China.
With national security spokesperson John Kirby, for example, saying:
“We’re not asking countries to choose between US and Russia and China. We’re simply looking for reliable, sustainable, verifiable investment opportunities that the people of Angola and the people of the continent can rely on.”[]
And with that, on this trip, Biden is announcing various investments in global health, agriculture and security cooperation during the trip.
For example, he’s scheduled to announce a new initiative to help countries in the region prevent, detect and respond to infectious disease.[]
And on top of that, his administration has announced a grant of $229,000 to support Angola’s National Museum of Slavery. []
With Biden actually speaking there today and actually addressing that dark chapter in American history.
Right, because if you don’t know, the first enslaved people in the US were shipped from Angola in 1619.
And overall, almost a quarter of the nearly half a million people forced into slavery in the US came from the west and central region of Africa that includes Angola. .[]
But the big one? The real reason he’s there, some would say…
It’s something called the Lobito (Low-bee-toe) Corridor.
Right, basically, it’s an 800-mile multibillion dollar railway project funded largely by the United States.
It will connect the copper and cobalt mines of northern Zambia (Zombie-uh) and southern Congo to the Angolan port of Low-bee-toe.
And it also ultimately aims to extend to Africa’s east coast through Tanzania (Tan-zuh-knee-uh) and therefore be a coast-to-coast rail link. []
Though, with that, the Biden administration says the corridor will benefit everyone.
For example, saying it will encourage manufacturers to build factories along the railway because they can use it to ship goods.[]
Right, hopefully creating jobs.
Also saying it could allow small, subsistence farmers to ship their harvests overseas, rather than selling them at roadside markets as most currently do.[]
And with all that, the Biden administration has described the corridor as one of the president’s signature initiatives.
But it won’t be complete until well after is gone from office.
And one big question is: will it survive Trump?
Well, notably, of course, challenging China is high on Trump’s to-do list.
With one analyst saying:
“As long as they keep labeling Lobito one of the main anti-China tools in Africa, there is a certain likelihood that it’s going to keep being funded.”[]
But notably, some have questioned whether it will really be all it's cracked up to be anyways.
Michelle Gavin, for example, a former adviser to Obama, saying the US had failed to take Africa seriously over multiple administrations, both Democrat and Republican.[]
With her specifically saying:
“It’s one project. It’s one good idea. And I’m very glad we’re doing it. It’s not enough.”[]
And with that, the project doesn’t guarantee mineral access to any country.
Right, and with Chinese firms reportedly owning 15 out of the 19 major cobalt mines in the DRC, for example, it’s not clear how much the upgraded railway will affect Chinese dominance. []
But then, even more than that, there’s the questions about the human impact.
Right, for one, we know that cobalt and copper mining in this part of the world is plagued by human rights abuses and environmental issues.
Also, as it is now, African minerals are mostly exported in their raw states and refined abroad.
And so actually, most of the money to be made off these minerals is made by outside companies.
Right, the DRC, for example?
It contains as much as 80 percent of the world’s cobalt, but it reportedly only holds three percent of the battery and EV value chain.[]
And with that, critics have argued that the corridor is another example of foreign powers stripping African nations of their resources.
And with all that, you have experts at places like the Stimson Center, a nonpartisan think tank, saying:
“By focusing on extracting and exporting raw materials instead of supporting the development of clean mineral processing, the United States risks undermining the sustainable development goals of its partner countries across the continent and fueling ecological, health, and security crises there.” []
And then, going on to say:
“As currently designed, the Lobito Corridor project will most likely exacerbate existing environmental and human rights crises in the subregion and undermine the sustainable development goals of its target countries.” []
And with that, these concerns are amplified by doubts around whether Biden will heed the call of rights groups to address human rights issues in Angola specifically.
With Human Rights Watch, for example, pointing out two bills passed this year that it says severely restrict human rights.
One, for example, handing out prison terms of up to 25 years for people who participate in protests that result in vandalism and service disruptions.
And the other permitting what it says is excessive government control over media, civil society organizations, and other private institutions.[]
And on top of all that, saying Angolan police have been implicated in killings, sexual violence, torture, excessive use of force, and arbitrary detention of peaceful activists and protesters.[]
With Human Rights Watch saying:
“If this first-ever visit of a US president to Angola is limited to strengthening business links, it will send the wrong message.”
“Instead, Biden should stand with the Angolan people and seek a public commitment by Angola’s president to investigate rights violations by the security forces and appropriately hold those responsible to account.”[]
But with all that, we’ll have to wait and see where this goes, what gets brought up, and what the ultimate impact of this one African country becoming a place of competition between great powers.
