December 24, 2024

On December 4, 2024, a man wearing the costume of South Korean President Yun Seok-yeol and wearing a mask danced outside the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, after South Korean President Yun Seok-yeol declared martial law. South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol declared martial law on December 3, accusing the opposition of being “anti-national forces” and saying he took action to protect the country from the “threat” of North Korea.

Anthony Wallace | AFP | Getty Images

This report comes from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open keeps investors updated on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.

What you need to know today

French government collapses after no-confidence vote
The French government was overthrown in a vote of no confidence on Wednesday. A total of 331 MPs from the left-wing New Popular Front alliance and the far-right National Rally supported the no-confidence motion in the country’s lower house, far exceeding the 288 votes needed to pass it. This means that Prime Minister Michel Barnier will be forced to resign.

Impeachment motion against the President of South Korea
According to reports, South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol is facing
Impeachment vote on December 7 This comes after the country’s parliament formally filed a motion to impeach him over his shocking declaration of martial law and subsequent revocation of it. The motion requires eight lawmakers from Yoon’s party to pass across the aisle to gain the two-thirds supermajority needed for impeachment.

Bitcoin crosses $100,000
On Thursday, the price of Bitcoin surpassed the $100,000 mark for the first time. The flagship cryptocurrency rose as high as $103,844.05 and was last up about 4.5% at $103,338.4, according to Coin Metrics. Hours before this, US President-elect Donald Trump announced plans to nominate Paul Atkins, known for his pro-crypto stance, to serve as chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

U.S. market hits new record
All three major U.S. stock indexes closed at record highs on Wednesday, with technology stocks leading gains after strong reports from Salesforce and Marvell Technology. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.69%, closing above 45,000 points for the first time, at 45,014.04 points. The S&P 500 Index rose 0.61% and the Nasdaq Index rose 1.3%, closing at 6,086.49 points and 19,735.12 points respectively. Asian markets were mixed, led by losses in Hong Kong, down 1%.

(PRO) UBS and Others Think It’s Time to Short the Dollar
The dollar has risen sharply since September, but some financial institutions are advising investors to bet on further strength. Investment bank UBS, for example, warned investors not to chase the dollar’s recent gains.

bottom line

That was the summer of 2016.

Their protest will trigger a series of events leading In March 2017, then-South Korean President Park Geun-hye was impeached and removed.

Eight years later, another South Korean president is on the verge of impeachment. But unlike 2016, this time the backlash from the Korean public and lawmakers was swift.

The opposition party filed articles of impeachment against President Yun Seok-yeol just 48 hours after he abruptly changed martial law and subsequently revoked it.

Just hours after the announcement, South Koreans saw scenes of parliamentary staff trying to use fire extinguishers to prevent armed forces from entering the country’s parliament; protesters clashing with police; and even one Live video Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung climbed over the parliamentary fence to reach the National Assembly.

Given the political chaos, is it still possible to invest in South Korea?

Jonathan Garner, chief Asia and emerging markets equity strategist at Morgan Stanley, told CNBC that South Korea’s economy “is disadvantaged in a global slowdown” even without taking into account the government turmoil, and that semiconductor and The auto industry, a key industry for the country, faces a potential recession globally.

Others, however, are more optimistic. “New reports suggesting that Yin will soon be impeached or resign may help investors draw a further line,” said Thomas Mathews, head of Asia-Pacific markets at Capital Economics.

Matthews also added that impeachment is not new to South Korea, and that during the 2016 impeachment of Park Geun-hye, the stock market performed quite well despite numerous protest rallies in Seoul and other parts of the country.

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