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Ben Ascione @benasci1.bsky.social · 1d

LDP 196 + Ishin 35 = 231. So the other six votes for Takaichi presumably came from 改革の会 (3), 減税保守 (2), and one independent?

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Ben Ascione @benasci1.bsky.social · 18d

Takaichi cites Thatcher as her political hero. But Takaichi's economic policy won't resemble Thatcher's. As an Abe apostle she is basically promoting Abenomics (fiscal stimulus and monetary easing)

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Ben Ascione @benasci1.bsky.social · Sep 1

Pressure from LDP nationalists & rising Sanseito threaten Ishiba's hold on power. But scandals still weaken Ishiba's LDP rivals & opposition parties are too divided to challenge him. China policy & immigration reform show how Japanese politics is paralysed.

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Ben Ascione @benasci1.bsky.social · Sep 1

Our latest East Asia Forum editorial

Japan's political house of cards: PM Ishiba clings to power despite losing majorities in both houses. A fragile equilibrium emerges #JapanPolitics 🧵

eastasiaforum.org/2025/09/01/j...

Japan’s political house of cards

Japanese politics is locked in a stalemate, with the ruling party not strong enough to govern effectively and the opposition too weak to change the status quo

eastasiaforum.org

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Ben Ascione @benasci1.bsky.social · Aug 3

Funnily, the survey was conducted in March before the so-called "Liberation Day" tariff chaos... So the downward trend has probably intensified

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Ben Ascione @benasci1.bsky.social · Jul 9

Trump is part of the problem rather than the reflexive solution to Australia's strategic and economic challenges. Australia should develop closer ties with regional neighbours and hedge between great powers rather than remain hostage to erratic US foreign policy
eastasiaforum.org/2025/07/09/t...

Trump’s America First leaves Australia behind

Australia has to face the possibility that the United States under Trump is part of the problem rather than the solution to Australia’s imagined strategic problems and economic future

eastasiaforum.org

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Reposted by Ben Ascione

Dan Sneider @dcsneider.bsky.social · Jun 8

a little late in getting out, but my latest, on the Korean election, for East Asia Forum.
eastasiaforum.org/2025/06/08/s...

South Koreans vote for democracy

While his victory in the presidential election is an immediate win for South Korean democracy, Lee Jae-myung must now confront both domestic and international political challenges

eastasiaforum.org

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Ben Ascione @benasci1.bsky.social · Apr 17

Working link here: inews.co.uk/opinion/trum...

Ben Ascione @benasci1.bsky.social · Apr 11

The Constitutional Court’s verdict to impeach ROK President Yoon strengthens democratic stability and curbs overt political instability, but internal political struggles are far from over, writes Hannah Kim.
eastasiaforum.org/2025/04/11/y...

Yoon’s impeachment is just the start of stabilising South Korea’s democracy

Despite the Constitutional Court’s verdict strengthening democratic stability and curbing overt political instability, internal political struggles are far from over.

eastasiaforum.org

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Ben Ascione @benasci1.bsky.social · Apr 7

With the US making clear its desire to economically disengage from the world, the Asia-Pacific region needs to develop a collective response to a new wave of protectionism
eastasiaforum.org/2025/04/07/t...

The US spins out of control, into an economic world of its own

With the US making clear its desire to economically disengage from the world, the Asia-Pacific region needs to develop a collective response to a new wave of protectionism.

eastasiaforum.org

Ben Ascione @benasci1.bsky.social · Apr 4

You might as well divide the numbers of apples in your kitchen by the number of bagels and use it to calculate your mortgage rate. To criticise [Trump's tariff calculations] on political or economic grounds is too generous. It operates below the level of rational thought.
inews.co.uk/opinion/trum...

https://inews.co.uk/opinion/trumps-downfall-begins-now-paranoia-baseless-rage-3621228It’s

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Ben Ascione @benasci1.bsky.social · Apr 4

"Almost everything Mr Trump said this week—on history, economics and the technicalities of trade—was utterly deluded. His reading of history is upside down"

The Economist @economist.com · Apr 3

Donald Trump has committed the most profound, harmful and unnecessary economic error in the modern era. Almost everything he said—on history, economics and the technicalities of trade—was utterly deluded econ.st/3YbbFjq

Ben Ascione @benasci1.bsky.social · Apr 4

It is depressing how apt this is...

Daniel Drezner @dandrezner.bsky.social · Apr 3

Variations on a theme. danieldrezner.substack.com/p/american-f...

American Foreign Economic Policy Is Being Run By the Dumbest Motherfuckers Alive

The fuckwittery continues unabated.

danieldrezner.substack.com

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Reposted by Ben Ascione

Michelle Ye Hee Lee @myhlee.bsky.social · Feb 19

Incredible exclusive interview by South Korea's Chosun Ilbo (from Kyiv) of the two North Koreans captured in Kursk.
www.chosun.com/english/nort...

Exclusive: Captured North Korean soldiers speak out on deployment to Russia

www.chosun.com

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · Jan 20

New, from me: as the Trump administration begins, I try to make sense of what, exactly, DOGE is.

Journalists and policymakers should be skeptical of its claim to be a govt reform commission, and more willing to see it as a form of oligarchic state capture.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/doge-dange...

DOGE: Dangerous Oligarchs Grab Everything

What Marc Andreessen revealed about the tech-industrial complex

donmoynihan.substack.com

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Raphael Rashid @koryodynasty.bsky.social · Jan 15

YOON ARRESTED. LATEST. AND MORE COMING SOON
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

South Korea’s Yoon Suk Yeol arrested, investigators say, after hours-long standoff at residence

Impeached president detained over failed December martial law bid a month after a first attempt ended in stalemate

www.theguardian.com

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Benjamin A. Engel @benjaminaengel.bsky.social · Dec 30

Good quick over view of South Korea’s “imperial presidency,” what causes it, and why it must be reformed.

www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/s...

South Korea’s Constitution Needs Fixing | by Yoon Young-kwan - Project Syndicate

Yoon Young-kwan argues that breaking the cycle of political crises will require some fundamental reforms.

www.project-syndicate.org

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Reposted by Ben Ascione

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Dec 15

How South Korea’s president sealed his own downfall

Yoon Suk Yeol’s party offered him the chance of a dignified exit but he chose to double down on his martial law gambit * South Korean parliament votes to impeach president * What happens next after vote to impeach South Korea’s president? For…

www.theguardian.com

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Byunghwan 'Ben' Son @textvulture.bsky.social · Dec 14

1/ 🚨 Yoon is now out of office. What happens (or should happen) now? A thread.
www.ft.com/content/12c6...

South Korean president vows to ‘never give up’ after impeachment vote

Yoon Suk Yeol has been suspended in the wake of his failed attempt to impose martial law

www.ft.com

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Sangsin Lee @sslee.bsky.social · Dec 10

South Korea currently has a “Schrödinger’s President.” Yoon is either the president or not. Whether he holds presidential power can only be determined through impeachment.

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William Gallo @williamgallo.bsky.social · Dec 9

As we begin another day of political uncertainty in Seoul,

- It's still unclear who is running what in the country
- No details about any power sharing arrangement that allegedly exists
- We don't know the legal rationale for any such deal
- The presidential office has essentially gone dark

South Korea’s leadership unclear as Yoon struggles to retain power

South Korea’s defense ministry insisted that President Yoon Suk Yeol remained in charge of the country’s armed forces on Monday, even as the justice ministry enforced a travel ban against him followin...

www.voanews.com

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Seo-young Silvia Kim @sysilviakim.bsky.social · Dec 8

573 political scientists in and out of Korea have written and signed a declaration calling for Yoon's immediate impeachment. I've translated it into English with Prof. Jeong Hyun Kim at Yonsei:

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

A Declaration of Political Scientists of South Korea

A Declaration by Political Scientists of South Korea Call for an Immediate Reintroduction and the Passage of the Impeachment Bill to Restore the Constitutional Order The emergency martial law declar...

docs.google.com

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Daniel A. Pinkston, Ph.D. @dpinkston.bsky.social · Dec 8

573 Korean political science scholars have issued a public statement declaring that Yoon's impeachment is the only way to resolve the current situation. They have 4 demands:

1. Resubmit an impeachment motion in the National Assembly
...

Sangsin Lee @sslee.bsky.social · Dec 8

정치학자 573명의 시국선언

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Eun A Jo @eunajo.bsky.social · Dec 7

Wrong headline, NYT. Should read: Impeachment Vote Foiled by Boycott from Yoon's Allies.

Ruling party refused to hold the President accountable for what most South Koreans believe was an act of treason. That's the ruling party's failure -- not the opposition's.

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