involvement

The defense ministry said Tuesday it has dismissed three Army officers from military service and removed another from service over their involvement in former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law declaration.

The decision came after the ministry convened a disciplinary committee meeting last month to review the cases of the four Army officers accused of involvement in the Dec. 3, 2024, martial law bid.

Brig. Gen. Kim Jeong-geun; Col. An Mu-seong, who had been awaiting promotion to brigadier general; and Col. Kim Se-un were dismissed from military service, the highest level of disciplinary punishment, according to sources. The punishment carries a 50 percent cut in military retirement benefits.

Brig. Gen. Kim and An are accused of deploying troops to the National Assembly on the night martial law was declared, while Col. Kim is accused of transporting the troops to the National Assembly building.

Col. Kim Sang-yong, former deputy chief of the Defense Ministry’s Criminal Investigation Command, was removed from military service, the second-highest level of disciplinary punishment, over his alleged role in helping form a team to arrest key politicians and other major figures. The punishment does not affect military retirement benefits.

The latest move came as the ministry has launched an internal probe into about 860 general-grade and field-grade officers and identified some 180 military personnel as having been involved in the martial law bid in late 2024.

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Re “Asian Population Surges in County,” Feb. 12: Assemblywoman Carol Liu (D-La Canada Flintridge) suggests that the reason Asian Americans lack political influence in the U.S. is Asian American cultural characteristics. Although I have the greatest respect for Liu and her work in the Legislature, I disagree. The culprit is not culture but many Asian Americans’ ineligibility to vote as they make their way through the citizenship process, and parties’ and candidates’ failure to mobilize the Asian American community.

Contrary to a public image of political complacency, Asian Americans have a long history of participation in American politics. They have participated through lobbying, litigation, petitioning, protesting, boycotting, civil disobedience and contributing to political campaigns. Liu herself is an example of such involvement. In a multi-city, multiethnic, multilingual survey of Asian Americans, my colleagues and I find that, contrary to assumptions of political apathy, Asian Americans are not culturally disadvantaged when it comes to politics. In fact, they are not at all apathetic. Only 13% express a lack of interest in American politics.

Janelle Wong

Asst. Prof., Political

Science, Program

in American Studies

and Ethnicity, USC

They have threatened to join the war ever since it started a month ago.

Now, Yemen’s Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis, have followed up on their threat and launched missiles towards Israel.

This move marks a significant escalation in the US-Israel war on Iran.

There are fears that the Iran-aligned group could attack shipping in the Red Sea, as it has done before.

This would further disrupt global trade, already affected by Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Will Israel and the US retaliate? And if so, how?

Presenter: James Bays

Guests:

Hisham Al-Omeisy – senior Yemen adviser at the European Institute of Peace

H A Hellyer – senior associate fellow in defence and security studies at the Royal United Services Institute

Michael Mulroy – former US deputy assistant secretary of defence for the Middle East