Up First from NPR
South Korea Martial Law, Transgender Rights Case, French Government Collapse
Wed, 04 Dec 2024
South Korea's president shocked the nation when he tried to declare martial law and now he faces impeachment charges. The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to a Tennessee law that bans gender affirming hormone treatments for minors. The French government is on the brink of collapse as the Prime Minister faces a vote of no-confidence. Join the new NPR Plus Bundle to support our work and get perks like sponsor-free listening and bonus episodes across more than 25 NPR podcasts. Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Miguel Macias, Krishnadev Calamur, Nick Spicer, Lisa Thomson and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Kaity Klein. We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
What happened with South Korea's martial law declaration?
Okay, now how are the different coalitions responding?
Well, the far-left France Unbowed Party has been saying for weeks it would punish him if he used this clause to pass the bill. This leftist coalition hates the budget. They want to lower the minimum retirement age back down to 62. They also seem to want to blow up the system, say analysts, and they've even called for President Macron, who they accuse of acting like a monarch, to resign.
So new presidential elections can be held to end this crisis. But Barnier thought he could succeed because Marine Le Pen, head of the far-right National Rally Party, has been acting stateswoman-like and said she would stand by the government until she changed her mind over the weekend. So now the extremes who can't stand each other are joining forces to bring down a more centrist prime minister.
Okay, so then how did the French parliament end up with two extremes in control?
Well, many blame President Emmanuel Macron. You might remember that over the summer he called surprise snap parliamentary elections when the far right did so well in EU parliament elections. He said he wanted French voters to clarify things. It was a big gamble. He didn't have to do it. And he lost his relative majority, and a leftist coalition got the most votes in those elections overall.
But no group has a majority. The parliament is basically split between three mutually detesting blocs, the far left, center and far right. And what Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said in parliament yesterday sums up what many people feel. Let's listen. He said some on the extremes are playing out the destiny of France and the French people with a game of Russian roulette.
All right. So then what are the consequences possibly?
Well, if the prime minister and his government falls, President Macron will have to name someone else. And it took him three months to find the conciliatory Barnier, who, by the way, was the Brexit negotiator between Britain and the European Union. So Macron thought he would be able to make deals between French parliamentarians.
Macron cannot try to change the makeup of the parliament because he has to wait a year before calling another election. It plunges France, the eurozone's second largest economy, into uncertainty and turmoil. at crucial time with a war raging in Ukraine and President-elect Donald Trump about to take power.
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