of korea's president as hens of thousands take to streets in seoul after his failed attempt to impose martial law. the un says the end of a dictatorship in syria shows signs of hope in the region. fifa announces a controversial choice to host the 2034 world cup in saudi arabia. hello. i'm steve lai. welcome to newsday. south korean president, yoon suk yeol, says he will not resign and will keep fighting to stay in control of the country. in a sometimes ramling speech, he sounded defiant as he lashed out at the political opponents, referring to it as something that destroys the constitutional democracy. translation: for the past two and a half years, i have only looked to the people fighting

against injustice, corruption and the tyranny disguised as democracy in order to protect and rebuild our liberal democracy. ifervently and rebuild our liberal democracy. i fervently appeal to you all to unite in the path of protecting the republic of korea and our liberal democracy which we have guarded with blood and sweat. i will fight with the people until the very last minute. his latest comments come after an estimated 50,000 people took to the streets in seoul calling for his removal or resignation on wednesday night over his botched attempt to impose martial law last week. police raided the president's office on wednesday to seize documents as part of their investigation into the president. they were blocked by his guards for hours who refused to let them in. local media reported that eventually, a limited number of documents were handed over to the police. they've also been questioning members of his government over the events of last week. for more on this, i'm joined last week. for more on this, i'mjoined ourimbah i'm joined ourimbah correspondent. it i'mjoined ourimbah correspondent. it seems like the president is becoming more and more isolated?—

the president is becoming more and more isolated? yes, i mean, ou and more isolated? yes, i mean, you heard — and more isolated? yes, i mean, you heard in _ and more isolated? yes, i mean, you heard in his— and more isolated? yes, i mean, you heard in his speech - and more isolated? yes, i mean, you heard in his speech there, i you heard in his speech there, and it was totally defiant — a very different speech from the last time that we heard from him, which was on saturday, just before the very first impeachment vote when he gave a short speech and was apologetic. today as you say, this was long and ramling and he really dug his heels in. he said that he was going to stand firm against any attempt to impeach him, also stand firm against the investigation that is were ongoing into him, and what was really interesting, steve, is that he repeated almost verbatim some of the arguments that he made last tuesday night when he imposed martial law. so he went back to talking about how dangerous the opposition party here is, and was saying that he would impose martial law to protect people and to defend democracy. there was no attempt to roll back at all from any of the arguments. and what happens next? we understand that there's another impeachment and a vote set to be cast. do the opposition think that they'll have more

success with the second one? well, it all comes down to his party, really, steve. because they are the ones with the deciding votes. now, up until now, they have stuck by the president. what they had been hoping is that they could strike some sort of a deal with him where they would convince him where they would convince him to go early and they wouldn't have to force him from office, and that's really the reason that they boycotted the first i impeachment vote that we had last saturday. butjust in the minutes before yoon came out and made his address, the ruling party leader came out first and said — look, it is obvious now that the president is not going to resign voluntarily, and there is only one option left, which is to remove him from office. he said that the president had to be suspended from all of his duties immediately and he urged mps in his party to vote to impeach him. we're not quite sure when that vote is going to take place. it was scheduled for 5:00pm this coming saturday, but there is some talk within the opposition party that if they get the votes, they might want to bring it forward. they need just eight members of the ruling party to vote in favour of them, so whether this leader's

speech today will be enough to convince the numberses, we don't know, but it seems probable. don't know, but it seems probable-— don't know, but it seems robable. ., ., ~ , probable. thank you for keeping us u- to probable. thank you for keeping us up to date — probable. thank you for keeping us up to date in _ probable. thank you for keeping us up to date in seoul. - us up to date in seoul. now to the middle east. shops are reopening and people returning to work in the syrian capital damascus, three days after the fall of the assad regime. but many people across the country want to see revenge for the atrocities that happened under bashar al—assad's rule. rebel fighters have broken into the tomb of the former president, hafez al—assad, bashar�*s father — in the family's hometown in northwestern syria. images show a coffin and parts of the mausoleum on fire. and large crowds formed in a suburb of the capital damascus, for what they believed would be a public execution of one of the former president's henchmen. there are some disturbing images injeremy bowen's report. if only moving from dictatorship to freedom was as simple as climbing onto an abandoned tank and posing for pictures. but the assad family

was in power in syria long before these children's parents were even born. over more than half a century, a lot of anger built up, and it is being released. sometimes politely by quiet families at the former president's home. it was looted after the assads fled — the end of what must have been an elegant lifestyle. now the house is secured by victorious fighters from hayat tahrir al—sham, hts. they borrowed the fighters' guns for photos. until a few days ago, they wouldn't have dared to look through the gate. the visitors were still getting used to living without fear of the regime. translation: people were living in hell- and he was in his palace. he didn't care about what they were going through. he made them live in fear, hunger and humiliation. even after we entered damascus, people would only whisper to us because they were still afraid. anger at the assads is a family affair.

much stronger revenge was on the minds of the crowd in tadamon, a quarter of damascus that suffered grievously. their fury against bashar al—assad deepened in 2013, when military intelligence operatives forced at least 41 local men into a mass grave and shot them dead. there's a video. that's one of the killers. another, abu muntajab, is being held near here, and the people had come to watch him being hanged. imagine if someone knocked on your door and brought you by force, and didn't tell you anything, the reason of why you are getting killed. throughout the afternoon, more and more people arrived until thousands blocked the streets. when rumours flew around that the execution was starting, the crowd surged back and forth, jostling for the best position, not wanting to miss a thing.

the man they wanted hanged had been the local boss, a thief as well as a killer. "he stole my house and money," said muna. translation: of course i want him dead. - i would have done it myself with my own hands, but i couldn't find a way. i wanted to kill him! somehow, they decided the execution was happening down the street, and stampeded. if syria's new rulers do not want change to be measured in blood, they will need to control the desire for revenge. there's a real strong sense of excitement, expectation, anger, as well. they want to see this man dead. they don't just want justice to be done, they want to see it being done — notjust because of his crimes, but because of the boundless cruelty of the assad regime. the revolution won!

after 14 years... we just want justice! in the end, there was no execution — at least not yet. it was probably a rumour, but thousands wanted it to be true. when the weight of dictatorship is lifted, powerful forces are unleashed. how they're dealt with shapes what comes next. jeremy bowen, bbc news, damascus. aleppo was the first major city to be captured by the rebels in their lightning offensive. thousands of people fled their homes over a decade ago as the assad regime crushed opposition forces there during the civil war. now, some have already come back. our middle east correspondent hugo bachega reports from aleppo. they're too young to understand what's happening to their country. but they know things have changed. for the first time in their lives, they're home. their family escaped in 2012, when east aleppo was under rebel control.

forces loyal to the assad regime crushed the opposition and, four years later, reclaimed it. it meant they could not come back. they were forced to stay in rebel areas in syria, until now. translation: i'm very happy. no—one can take away my happiness. we're here, sleeping, eating and drinking. we can't believe that we came back. may god protect those who took the country back. aleppo was the first major city to be captured by the astonishing rebel offensive led by the islamist group hayat tahrir al—sham. what happens here could be an indication of what's to come for the rest of the country. i came to aleppo for the first time as a student 16 years ago. there were posters, placards, with the face of bashar al—assad in public squares, streets, government buildings. now, look at this billboard.

people want to forget any memory they have of a man, of a family, behind so much suffering in this country. no—one knows what lies ahead for syria and its people, here and abroad. six million syrians left and became refugees. some are already coming back. and in aleppo, there are signs of change. this message is from the rebel alliance, saying, "freeing detainees is a debt upon our necks." it's a new era for syrians, but they're still in the shadow of the old one. hugo bachega, bbc news, aleppo.

for more is our guest. what is your main thought as you've seen things unfold?- your main thought as you've seen things unfold? well, let me say that _ seen things unfold? well, let me say that i'm _ seen things unfold? well, let me say that i'm actually - me say that i'm actually extremely worried. on one hand, the collapse of the assad regime in syria is presenting an opportunity to rebuild the nation. but on the other side, we don't see the element for a peaceful transition really in place. and if i look at my experience in countries conditioned from conflict to peace, you have elements. you need someone who is able to have enough power and trust to have enough power and trust to have an inclusive political dialogue internally — and i don't see that happening right now in syria. but also, externally, engaging with actors in the region. second — you need a transition government. that is in place and we'll see how that will behave. and finally, you need the control of the military, and the control of the

territory. and that certainly is not something that we're going to see in syria right now. so all of the elements are not necessarily in place, and i think that this is a very delicate balance and a very dangerous situation. find delicate balance and a very dangerous situation.- delicate balance and a very dangerous situation. and if we talk about _ dangerous situation. and if we talk about the _ dangerous situation. and if we talk about the leadership - dangerous situation. and if we talk about the leadership that l talk about the leadership that we've seen so far — the leader of hds — he's also the caretaker prime minister as well. how do you see these roles divided up as to who is making the decisions as to how syria moves next? i making the decisions as to how syria moves next?— syria moves next? i think that it is a big _ syria moves next? i think that it is a big question _ syria moves next? i think that it is a big question mark. - syria moves next? i think that it is a big question mark. i - it is a big question mark. i think that he has given interviews to try to reposition himself. i think that this is something to watch. even if we believe in his transition from being a rebel leader to some kind of state man, we know that this is a very hard transition to do, because it is also a matter of skills and capabilities. we have a caretaker prime minister bashir, who has already run some cities in the northwestern

provinces of idlib and aleppo in the past. he has done a fair job, so that is a promising opportunity there. however, we start to see coming out the instinct of revenge to minorities, and that's something that we will see probably unfolding in the next days. probably unfolding in the next da s. �* , ., ., days. and is that part of the bi aer days. and is that part of the bigger picture _ days. and is that part of the bigger picture as _ days. and is that part of the bigger picture as well? - days. and is that part of the bigger picture as well? hts| days. and is that part of the - bigger picture as well? hts was leading this rebel cause against the assad regime, but all of the factions making up that force are fragmented by nature, and now that the assad regime is gone, there will be a lot of infighting amongst them? precisely, so that is exactly the problem. the problem is that this is sort of a coalition of militias and different groups. and we can start to see an infight. i would add to that element of instability that there are also external forces in play in syria. you have turkish army in the north of the country. israeli armies in the southwest of the country. you still have

russian troops in the bases on the mediterranean. then, of course, you have the kurds in the north—west of the country. so, reality is that all of the pieces of the puzzle are up in the air right now, and hts is only basically controlling a long strip of land which covers the main cities of damascus, homs, hama and aleppo. so what do ou homs, hama and aleppo. so what do you think _ homs, hama and aleppo. so what do you think that _ homs, hama and aleppo. so what do you think that we'll _ homs, hama and aleppo. so what do you think that we'll see - homs, hama and aleppo. so what do you think that we'll see in - do you think that we'll see in the medium term, in the next days, weeks and months ahead? we'll see probably internally, an escalation in terms of republic venge in search and some sort ofjustice —— revenge in search of some justice for the crimes of the regime in the past. so we'll see more instability locally, but also a lot of euphoria. a lot of syrians are happy for the toppling of the reg evenly and they see an opportunity. on the other hand, we're going to see a lot of players around the region to try to reposition themselves to have a role in

shaping the new syrian nation. a lot to keep an eye on. thank you for your thoughts today. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

fifa officially confirmed on wednesday that saudi arabia 1539 00:16:2