The Korean crisis is waiting – now let’s hope that Trump will go easy on tariffs, says ALEX BRUMMER

South Korea is considered by the World Bank as a poster child for economic development. Since the end of the Korean war in 1953 it has rapidly gone from an underdeveloped country to the ‘first league’ of the West.

It is the fourth-largest economy in Asia, the 12th largest in the world with £1.5trillion (half of the UK), and part of the economic and cultural wealth that gave us Samsung, Gangnam madness, Squid Game and Spurs football Son. Heung-Min.

When I went to Seoul a few years ago for a meeting on the International Monetary Fund, the protests to visit the banks was one of the most elegant I have seen.

The best protestors in white judo-style clothes marched through the city in the form of crocodiles.

It was a shock when directly elected president Yoon Suk Yeol suddenly declared martial law on Monday, sparking street protests and opposition in the legislature. Yoon faces a protest.

Some may see the events in Washington on January 6, 2020, when the fall of the US president Donald Trump helped the activists who attacked the US Capitol seeking to abolish the vote.

Global economic decision-makers are still on the alert for the next crisis on the heels of the financial crisis, Covid and Russia’s war on Ukraine.

No one predicted it would come out of South Korea.

Triggering the ban on the budget would mean more funding to Yoon’s office, the police and other civil society groups. Yoon sought to criticize North Korean activists in the legislature for wanting to restore order.

For several hours the markets trembled. South Korea’s currency, the won, fell to a two-year low. It pulled a bid from a behemoth right for HD Marine Solution. Korean stocks sank.

South Korea is an exporter. This writer is a user of Samsung TV, mobile phone and watch. Seoul is vulnerable to Trump-era tariffs.

Citibank expects rates to reduce yields from 1.8 percent to 1.6 percent by 2025.

One suspects that, given South Korea’s strong will against the ruling elite in North Korea, Trump may be lenient.

Hopefully, this is an accident that has been avoided.

Consider the location

Closer to home, our new Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is celebrating the revamp of the South West Railway, saying we can expect better service and reduced congestion. rate.

How, it is less clear.

He argued that the administration fees paid by the Government to the railway companies would help. Maybe, but the Government needs to send in new managers.

Network Rail and Transport for London are not known for their low cost. Also, Alexander promised industrial peace by dealing with the unions. But rates are likely to rise because the bulk offer has no yield requirements.

If improvement is necessary then the process will change.

That needs money. It will come into the public spending arena in June and compete with the NHS, education, social care and more.

Attendees will be low on the priority list.