including a brand prize of $5,000, this is your opportunity not only to make an impact but also be rewarded for your creativity and hard work. ente submissions today. scan the code or visit studentcam.org for all the detiens how to intrsm the deadline is y 20, 2025. >> since 1979, in partnership with the cable industry, c-span has provided complete coverage of the halls of congress. from the house and senate floors, to congressional hearings, party briefings, and committee meetings. c-span gives you a front row seat to how issues are debate and decided with no commentary, no interruptions, and completely unfiltered. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. a focused now on the

political turmoil in south korea and to do that we are joined by celeste arrington. she serves as director for the institute of korean studies at the school. explain what we saw on tuesday in south korea leading up to the surprise and short-lived declaration of martial law. guest: good morning and thank you for having me. so, because of the time difference we got to watch what unfolded in korea in the middle of the night in the middle of the day here in washington. basically the president of south korea, yoon suk yeol, called a surprise emergency press conference without notifying many of his members of the cabinet or even his own ruling conservative party, people's power party. at the press conference he declared martial law. this is the first time since

1980 that a south korean leander has declared martial law and the first time has -- the first times in south korea became a democracy in 1987. in 2.5 hours after the direct -- after the declaration, the 190 members of the national assembly, the legislative body in south korea, voted unanimously to ask the president to withdraw the declaration. this is basically from 11:00 p.m. until 1:00 a.m., the drama that we watched unfold live with lots of media coverage. the military surrounded the national assembly and officially martial law prohibited political activity by lawmakers. but this 190 out of 300 that made it to vote in the national assembly got through the cordons of police and military to get into the building to vote. the speaker of the national assembly had to climb over a

wall to get into the building. and they resoundingly announced the declaration of military law with a unanimous vote, including 18 members of the president's own conservative party voting against the motion. and then we waited for the president to respond, which we did in korea time at about 4:00 a.m.. he was out and withdrew the martial law. korea was under martial law for about six hours on tuesday night. host: was this a play for political power or a political stunt? how do you interpret what happened? guest: to be honest a lot of observers are scratching their heads and trying to understand what the objective was because some observers have called it the nuclear option or this was political suicide for him. it is hard to see exactly what political benefits he got out of

doing this. over the entirety of his term since may 2022, president yoon suk yeol has faced a national assembly controlled by the opposition party. they are increasingly at loggerheads with each other. building over the last few months are not just legislative presidential deadlocks but really mutual mudslinging and attacks. example the opposition party in the national assembly has tried to impeach dozens of government officials in the yoon administration. they had not tried until yesterday to impeach the president himself. they also tabled many special investigations of the first lady and other members of the yoon administration. they have passed a variety of different laws that the president then vetoed. and he has used the presidential

veto with unprecedented frequency. so really we have a mutual attack and unwillingness to compromise. there is legislative deadlock, and increasingly the president seemed isolated and frustrated. and it might have been that this week there were a couple of triggers that lead him to take such extreme steps as declaring martial law. i think you people watching his increasing frustration what have expected such an extreme move. host: so important here because south korea is such a key u.s. allies and tens of thousands of u.s. service members are stationed along the border with north korea. reaction around the world, into -- including the u.s. secretary of state, he was seated -- speaking with the filipino company about the declaration. this is about a minute and a half. [video clip] >> we were not aware but obviously watching it carefully.

it is good to see that the martial law edict was withdrawn by president yoon after the parliament voted against it. and for us, this is one of the most critical alliances that we have anywhere in the world. south korean democracy is one of the most powerful stories anywhere in the world. it is very important that any disputes and differences, political differences be resolved peacefully and pursuant to the rule of law. that is what we are seeing now and that is what is important to sustain. >> you are saying that you well, rescinding of the martial law. do you mean that you do not think there was justification for it? >> i am not going to get into the decisions that were made, political decisions being made in south korea. all i can say as korea's staunch ally and a country believes that korea has such an important story to tell to the world because of the extraordinary

emergence not only of a democracy but a strong and resilient democracy, we want to see that sustained because it is in our interest and a partnership that is critical to us, but what it says to the world. it is important how our allies resolve any internal differences. we are watching it closely, but it is good to see that the martial law declaration was rescinded and the political process is moving pursuant to the rule of law. [end video clip] host: antony blinken. what do you think what happened in south korea, what does it do to the u.s.-south korea alliance? guest: i think the election of former president donald trump has led to a lot of uncertainty among korean officials about what is going to happen for the alliance starting in january when he takes office.

and this just throws that much more uncertainty into alliance management. under the first trump administration we sort of roller coaster from a year of fire and fury and coming close to war with north korea in 2017 ted then in 2018 to lots of summit meetings between the leaders of the united states and the of north korea. that level of uncertainty and volatility in the alliance, many officials in south korea were already worried about what a new trump administration coming in. but now, the political and domestic instability adds a whole new level of uncertainty. the cabinet of president yoon suk yeol offered to resign en mass yesterday.

so we have leadership turnover in the foreign policy and military administration in south korea as well as the uncertain future of the president himself. host: if you have questions about south korea and what happened now would be a good time to call in. professor arrington is with us for the next 10 to 15 minutes. 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. independents, 202-748-8002. we will also look for your texts and tweets. here is one of them for you. this is judy asking "how did this incident of dng martial law reflect on the health of south korea's democratic institutions, and what implications might it have for political polarization going forward?" guest: this is an extreme symptom of political polarization in south korea and a deeply historically rooted polarization that tends to be

sort of a division of us versus them rather than tolerating the opposition and trying to work together towards a compromise, which is essential in democracy. it is really about destroying the other side. and i think both the conservative party and the opposition party, which controls the national assembly, there is some blame in terms of escalating the level of vitriol and rhetoric and accusation against each other to a point where basic governance has grown difficult in south korea. that might be in the -- expressed in the frustration of yoon suk yeol declaring martial law. that is not a normal democratic procedure. under the constitution there are very specific conditions under which the president is allowed to declare martial law and those conditions did not appear in south korea.

this is stepping beyond the bounds of normal democratic procedure because the normal institutions are not working. what i worry about for political polarization is that we are now seeing the second impeachment of a president within the last eight years in south korea. just because you do not agree with the other side does not mean that you should immediately leap to impeachment. there needs to be a more civil discourse and the public sphere in south korea and a willingness not tar the other side as the president did as pro-north korean antistateist forces, which is a quote. or as the opposition saying is that yoon suk yeol is an authoritarian dictator that abuses his power and illegally declares martial law. this does not leave much room for compromise. host: you talk about normal democratic procedure. could you speak to the history

of martial law decorations in south korea and democracy movement in response? guest: yes. the last time we had a martial law declaration was in 1980 to suppress a pro-democ uprising in the seven -- in a southern city. it led to the violent that's an injury of hundreds of south koreanivilians -- dth and injury of hundreds of south korean citizens. it lives on as a strong memory as a moment where south korea could have become a democracy. it was ruled by military dictators. but the military and the dictators suppressed democracy with martial law, which was the key tool plus the violence that ensued after. so, to hear that martial law is cleared again calls backup the

moment of of violence episode of failure to bring about democracy. through the 1980's, that spirit lived on and sustained pro-democracy activism which gradually spread to more sectors of society to the point where in 1987 the regime capitulated and agreed to allow direct democratic elections. and so, it is central and core to the pro-democracy legacy and the movement's legacy in south korea. that they fought and suffered martial law back in 1980. for the first time since then to have martial law declared is a shock. we are starting to see polling coming out. 74% of south koreans according to a poll opposed the use of a martial law.

koreans do not agree on a lot of things. they are politically polarized as your previous commenter mentioned. but they seem to have quite a bit of unanimity against martial law. host: george, independent. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. my question to get more clarity on the topic. is the current government in korea, doesn't lean more conservative or liberal would you say? guest: the current government is conservative. caller: i was going to follow on. do you see that as something typical for the conservative government when compared to other governments across the world? guest: so korean conservatism means a harsh line towards north korea, pro-business policy,

upholding the u.s.-korea alliance, and maintaining a strong anti-communist stance. so, first for -- the conservatives who ruled from 2008 through 2017 when the previous president was impeached maintain those policies in general. the liberal side, what characterizes south korean liberals is the legacy of pro-democracy activism lives on in the liberal side, primarily. and they want to establish a more equal partnership with the united states in the alliance. and they tend to favor engaging north korea more. and they have a little bit more attention to social minorities and rights issues. but the current president is

conservative, but the national assembly is controlled by the liberal party. in the april elections they overwhelmingly controlled the assembly. for his entire term he has had the assembly in control -- liberals in control of the assembly. part of this frustration is that he has been impossible to get his goals done. host: if a goal of liberalism is a more equal partnership with the united states, what do they envision it looks like? guest: it depends a little bit on north korean behavior and actions. so, in 2018 as i mentioned, the then president moon who was a

liberal proposed a lot of dialogue. they had a lot of talks and he visited north korea to give talks. he advocated for more consultation and more equal partnership in the alliance management. but both the conservatives and the liberals still value the u.s. alliance and the presence of 28.5 million troops in parts because north korea maintains a belligerent stance and is still at war technically would south korea. this is a little bit of a tricky balance to hold while engaging north korea also and maintaining the u.s.-korea alliance. host: a headline from "the wall street journal," the south

korean president faces removal vote in politics. -- in parliament. walk us through what it would take and the process it would take and how long it would be for a new leader to emerge? guest: there are a variety of different scenarios. easiest one is he resigns but he said he will not and he continues to defend the martial law declaration. the next is as we will see on friday or saturday, the vote in the national assembly which requires 200 votes to pass to impeach him. and then his powers would be suspended if the vote succeeds. it requires eight of his own party, the conservatives to vote against him. for impeachment. the -- there are factions within the ruling party, but it is not clear yet how much discipline the party will exert over its members. we will have to stay tuned for

that. if he is impeached the prime minister becomes the acting president and the powers of the presidents are suspended. and the constitutional court has 180 days in which to rule 21 whole -- to uphold the impeachment motion. in 2017 the constitutional court did rule to uphold the impeachment of the president. but in 2004, the constitutional court overturned the national assembly's impeachment motion against the then president. so, how the constitutional court rules is still unclear. they are also missing one justice it seems like -- one judge enough to rule against -- to uphold the impeachment motion. if he is impeached by the national assembly and the constitutional court upholds the decision, south korea is required to have an election

within 60 days. host: who are the people you are watching if there is an election in south korea? who are the names we should know about? guest: i think part of the challenge for the conservative party now and the factions within it trying to decide whether to vote for impeachment or not is that the likely liberal party candidate for president is currently undergoing four different trials and is a very polarizing figure. he has been convicted in one of those trials for abusing the election law and a variety of other corruption scandals. he is not a paragon of virtue and democratic ideals, i guess. and so for the conservatives, they would see that he would be a likely candidate. within the democratic party, if that leader decides to step

down, there is a variety of other figures trying to jockey to become the next candidate and they have been doing so for the 2027 election because south korea has a one five-year term president z. there is one other scenario which is unlikely with constitutional revision to switch from a 15-year term 2824 year term in which case if yoon survives the impeachment motion and the opposition party does not decide to keep impeaching him until it works, his term would not last until 2027 but would be over in 2026. host: the democratic party of korea is what we have been describing as a conservative party. guest: the democratic party is the liberal opposition party. and the people's power party is the conservative party. we are likely to see some reconfiguration as we head towards the potential election.

there has been more than 40 different parties in korea. they frequently reform and rename in part to distance themselves from disgraced leaders like it takes -- like it appears that president yoon is currently because of his rash decision to declare martial law. host: thanks for helping to sort this out for us. stay tuned down the road. we might bring you back as things develop in korea. professor >> today members are working on measures to increase transparency irelations on small businesses a another to name a pt office in plains, georgia,ft former president jimmy carter and his wife. also today members can vote on o measures to release the house ethics committee report into former florida republican reestative matt gaetz who resigned after being nominated

by president-elect donald trump battorney general. off the floormeers are continuing work on government funding with a stdn deadline approaching dember 20. watch le coverage when members return here on c-span. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we're funded by these television companies and more including midco. >> where are you going? or maybe a better question is how far do you want to go? and how fast do you want to get there? now we're getting somewhere. so let's go. let's go faster. let's go further. let's go beyond. >> midco supports c-span as a public service along with these

other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> next a look at aviation security and cyber challenges with the administrator of the t.s.a., david pekoske. t.s.a. screened 3.1 million passengers on sunday, the busiest 24-hour span in t.s.a. history they feel remarks took place in a summit at the american association of airport executives. >> thank you, chairm, appreciate it. welcome. glad you are here. we have the administrator with us, probably six or seven times now, a very familiar figure to all of us. just for a second, we will