China’s preference

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Following his impeachment, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's fate rests with the Constitutional Court. Its decision may end up rattling relations with the US and Japan — while bringing Seoul closer to Beijing.

The court has 180 days to decide whether to accept the impeachment motion passed by the National Assembly on Saturday as legal. If it does, Yoon is ousted and elections must be held in 60 days.

One of his greatest achievements in office was helping to bring South Korea, Japan and the US together to enhance joint security. That included practical steps like joint training on submarine hunting and sharing real-time data on ballistic missile launches to ward off potential threats from North Korea and China.

Lawmakers from the Democratic Party bow after passing of the impeachment motion. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

The plan's three architects were Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, US President Joe Biden, and Yoon, who are respectively out of office, halfway out the door, and suspended pending expulsion.

US President-elect Donald Trump halted large-scale military training drills with Seoul in his first term to pursue talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Drills could again be put on hold if Trump wants to try talks once more.

Then there's Lee Jae-myung, the frontrunner to replace Yoon.

Lee has been critical of Yoon's willingness to warm to Japan, the colonial master of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

He's also signaled doubt about following the Biden administration's curbs on advanced semiconductors to China, chastising Yoon's government for hurting leading chipmaker South Korea's economic interests by favoring Japan and the US at the expense of ties with China and Russia.

The Chinese Communist Party-controlled Global Times newspaper showered praise on Lee in an opinion piece earlier this year, lauding his view of staying clear from tensions over Taiwan.

Once South Korea escapes political limbo, it may show another face to the world. — Jon Herskovitz

Lee Jae-myung in the National Assembly in Seoul on Dec. 5. Photographer: Woohae Cho/Bloomberg

Global Must Reads

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said she "was listened to" in a meeting with new Prime Minister Francois Bayrou today, as he kicked off an effort to form a government that can push a budget through a divided Parliament. Moody's Ratings cut France's credit grade, heaping pressure on the government to bring a ballooning deficit under control, after the previous administration of Michel Barnier fell in a no-confidence vote backed by Le Pen.

Georgia selected former footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili as its next president, amid protests over the government's turn away from the West in favor of closer ties with Russia. The lawmaker for the Georgian Dream party that won disputed parliamentary elections in October was the sole candidate for the largely ceremonial post.

Riot police use water cannon to disperse protesters in Tbilisi on Dec. 1. Photographer: Giorgi Arjevanidze/Getty Images

Turkey said Syria's new rebel government agrees with Ankara on the need to dismantle Kurdish military forces, a critical US ally in the country's north, as states rush to shape the future of the region after the downfall of Bashar al-Assad's regime. US officials also have had direct talks with the group that took power in Syria and have held out the prospect of sanctions relief.

Thailand will host an informal meeting of foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this week to discuss the latest situation in strife-torn Myanmar. The country has been engulfed in a civil war since the military seized control in a 2021 coup.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been discharged from the hospital following emergency brain surgery.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his wife Rosangela "Janja" da Silva at the hospital in Sao Paulo on Dec. 15. Photographer: Carlos Fabal/AFP

Trump named Ric Grenell as "presidential envoy for special missions," saying that the former US ambassador to Germany "will work in some of the hottest spots around the world, including Venezuela and North Korea."

Global poverty will increase if the world doesn't work to maintain a stable and open trading system, World Trade Organization Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in a weekend interview.

The Palestinian Authority has been carrying out a rare and lethal sweep against Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants in the flashpoint West Bank city of Jenin, saying it was needed to prevent imminent attacks. Israel ordered the closing of its embassy in Ireland over Dublin's stance on the conflict in Gaza.

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Chart of the Day

As Chancellor Olaf Scholz submits today to a parliamentary vote of no-confidence setting Germany on course for snap elections in February, the winning party faces the reality that the economy looks to be on a path of inexorable decline. Following five years of stagnation, Europe's largest economy is now 5% smaller than it would have been if the pre-pandemic growth trend had been maintained, according to Bloomberg Economics, which estimates that the bulk of the shortfall will be tough to recover.

And Finally

The group fighting for Western Sahara's independence warned it may ramp up military attacks as Morocco looks to consolidate control of the disputed territory after securing US and French backing. Those landmark recognitions of Moroccan rule are encouraging Rabat to accelerate green energy, tourism and infrastructure projects in Western Sahara. That's opposed by the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which resumed a low-level conflict in 2020. France dismissed Algerian allegations it was involved in attempts to destabilize the North African country after authorities in Algiers reprimanded the French ambassador.

A flag of the Sahrawi Republic at a checkpoint outside a refugee camp. Photographer: Ryad Kramdi/AFP

Thanks to the 27 people who correctly answered the Friday quiz and congratulations to Marc Weinberg, who was first to name South Korea as the nation where the president was banned by his justice ministry from traveling overseas.