South Korea declares martial law amid 'threat' from North Korea
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Welcome to The World in 10. In an increasingly uncertain world, this is The Times' daily podcast dedicated to global security. Today with me, Alex Dibble and James Hansen. In a move almost no one saw coming, South Korea's president has declared martial law.

In an unannounced late-night TV address, Yoon Suk-yeol said the move was necessary to protect the country from North Korea's communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements. It's the first time since the early 80s that martial law has been declared in the country.

But already there are those who say this is more about party politics in South Korea than the threat from the North. At the time of recording, the situation is, under the decree, all medical staff, including trainee doctors, are to return to work in 48 hours. All media and publishers are to be under the control of the martial law command. Those who violate martial law can be arrested without warrant. And the decree claims...

It will minimise any inconvenience to people's lives except anti-regime forces. Well, here to help us make sense of this is Dr Jim Ho, a historian specialising in Korean and Chinese studies and a former diplomat at the British Foreign Office. Jim, why has the South Korean president done this?

I think he feels under a lot of pressure from the opposition. They're pursuing his wife over alleged misdeeds and also older charges against her. So he's had that on his plate and he doesn't like it. Also, the opposition has a majority and they've blocked his budget and tried to cut it back, to downsize it. And he doesn't like that either. But he's been pursuing the opposition on a number of charges already.

The opposition leader was convicted through the courts recently for alleged attempts to interfere in the 2022 presidential election, which brought Ewan to power. He was found guilty but has appealed, so the whole thing is still up in the air. So I think Ewan has got himself into a state. He is frustrated, I think, annoyed, and he's taken this, what seems to me, to be the nuclear step to try and get out of it.

So is there any truth then in the President's claim that this is actually to do with the threat from North Korea and anti-state elements or is this just about internal South Korean politics? I think it's purely South Korean internal politics. I'm not aware that the North has done anything recently that would be such you would need to move to a martial law position. The

The North is always there. It's a threat, but they've lived with that threat since the end of the Korean War. So it's 71 years. It's a long time to live with a threat. People cope with it. I know of nothing that would indicate there was any pressing need to bring the military into effectively controlling the civilian population. There's always allegations that the opposition...

is pro-North Korea. Korean politics are not really like European politics. The left wing would probably be regarded as somewhere slightly to the left of the right of the British Conservative Party in most cases. It's not very radical in reality, despite the claims of the government when it's threatened. There's a regular usage of the term communist. It's a sort of dog whistle type of call.

Jim, what does declaring martial law mean in practice? It was used during the Korean War. Basically, certain presidents have used it when they felt threatened at the time of a military coup, as there have been a number of military coups over the years.

then the military declare martial law. In fact, effectively, it halts all normal legal procedures. And it can be run by court marshals. So instead of normal courts having jurisdiction, the military courts have jurisdiction. So basically, it means the soldiers run the country nominally under the control of the president who is nominally in charge of the military.

And how might North Korea react to this news, do you think? Especially, I suppose, given the South Korean president is using the supposed threat from North Korea as his justification for taking this step. Well,

Well, I think the North Koreans will exploit it. I mean, they don't like you in any way. It is very anti-North Korea. But whether they will do anything, I doubt. After all, they've got other fish to fry at the moment. They're developing their relationship with Russia. They have troops in Ukraine. I don't think they will do anything. But they may make lots of noise about it and say the fascists are in control in the South again.

But Jim, is there not some truth, though, in the fact the tensions between North and South Korea are at their highest for many years now?

There is bound to be some increase of tension, but the North Koreans haven't moved at past moments of similar sorts of tension. They've been very vocal, but they haven't moved. There have been lots of incidents. During the 1960s, there were artillery duels all along the demilitarized zone. When I was there, they attempted to assassinate when I was a diplomat in South Korea.

They attempted to assassinate Chudawad in Burma, in Rangoon. There were miniature submarines washed up on the coast of South Korea. The tension has been there all the time. I don't think the developments within South Korea, I don't think necessarily add to that tension. Jim, thank you. That is Dr Jim Hoare, a historian specialising in Korean and Chinese studies and a former diplomat at the British Foreign Office.

The Secretary General of NATO has been speaking in Brussels today and he addressed the growing speculation about possible peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Mark Rutter said he'd like to see more military aid and less discussion on what a peace process could look like.

and that the alliance must help Ukraine get to a position of strength against Russia before negotiations can begin. It follows comments by President Zelensky, who has begun to discuss potential terms that may be acceptable to Ukraine. Over the weekend, he said granting NATO membership to the parts of Ukraine that aren't currently occupied by Russia could bring about an end to hostilities.

So how likely are peace talks? And if they do begin, what are the chances of a deal that both sides could accept? Sir Andrew Wood is a former UK ambassador to Russia and a Chatham House fellow. Sir Andrew, why is President Zelensky now publicly discussing what terms he would be prepared to accept for a negotiated peace?

Well, I think the answer to that is fairly obvious in that the Russians are now making considerable advances in the East. The difficulty for them, for the Ukrainians, is that they don't have enough arms. They have doubts as to the coherence of NATO giving them more arms and the sort of scale that they need.

And it's also that what he's offered or suggested is in effect a sort of temporary solution. He's been very eager to involve NATO in that. In other words, if we did arrive at a point where the current lines are stopped and he agrees that for now you can have what you've got,

to Putin, but on the other hand, that would be subject to change in our favor later. So it is an offer which is temporary.

And it appears currently that Ukraine is more willing to consider peace talks than Russia. But could that change, especially once Donald Trump returns to the White House? There have been some suggestions over recent weeks that Trump may give Putin some sort of ultimatum and say that he either has to enter into peace negotiations and be prepared to make some concessions, or the US will ramp up military aid to Ukraine even further. Would that be enough to bring Putin to the table?

It would. I can't predict what the next president is going to do precisely, although I think he would be, to a degree at least, more able to think like that than he was a couple of months ago.

Because the Gaza opposition, the condition now of Hezbollah and other armours and so on, and the position of Iran are rather agreeable to the future president's views. And I think that's important. I don't think that Russia is coming up particularly well.

strongly for any of this. It does have a good relationship with China. It has a peculiar but nonetheless effective relationship with North Korea. But that too is potentially a difficulty for him, Putin, because South Korea is not going to be at all happy with what they're doing. So it's a situation which is materializing.

So I repeat, really, that I'm quite convinced that Putin himself cannot give up because to give up would be seen as, in effect, a man who is not taking charge of everything in Russia, which he's not. And I think the situation among the Russian people would be increasingly critical.

Andrew, what is your reaction to Mark Rutter, the NATO Secretary General's comments today that he wants to see more military aid and less discussion on what a peace process could look like?

Absolutely damn right, because otherwise it's to defeat NATO in its own way. And because NATO has become somewhat divided among some people anyway, it needs to encourage the Germans and the French in particular to stay strong. Or become strong in some cases. Sir Andrew, thank you. That is the former UK ambassador to Russia, Sir Andrew Wood. And that's it from us. Thank you for taking 10 minutes to stay on top of the world with the help of The Times. We'll see you tomorrow.

We all want to enjoy food that tastes great and is sourced responsibly. But it's not always easy to know where your favourite foods come from. McDonald's works with more than 23,000 British and Irish farmers to source quality ingredients.

Sophie Bambridge grows quality potatoes for McDonald's Iconic Fries in Norfolk. I think McDonald's are one of the biggest supporters of British farming. They have a real commitment to British potatoes. The Sustainable Fries Fund is a collaborative investment by McCain and McDonald's to help us understand and try different growing techniques

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