The splitting image: Yoon verdict will deepen divisions
The Intelligence from The Economist
The Economist
4.5 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 19 February 2026
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea’s ex-president, has been handed a life sentence for insurrection. That is by no means the end of the story of division in the country. Nervous AI-watchers fret about which workers might be replaced; our analysis suggests white-collar workers can breathe easy. And the memoir of Gisèle Pelicot, a rape survivor turned global symbol of strength.
Guests and hosts:
- Noah Sneider, East Asia bureau chief
- Alex Domash, economics correspondent
- Alexandra Suich Bass, Culture editor
- Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”
- Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”
Topics covered:
- South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol
- AI, white-collar jobs
- Gisèle Pelicot, memoir
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Economist |
| 0:02.0 | Hello and welcome to the intelligence from The Economist. |
| 0:13.0 | I'm Rosie Bloor |
| 0:15.0 | and I'm Jason Palmer. |
| 0:17.0 | Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world. |
| 0:25.1 | We've asked it before, and we'll ask it again, |
| 0:28.0 | what will artificial intelligence do to the employment of real sentient human beings? |
| 0:33.5 | Man versus machine, we report from the middle of the fight. |
| 0:39.2 | And our culture editor joins us with an examination of the quiet heroism present in the memoir of Giselle Pelico. |
| 1:03.0 | Thank you. But first... |
| 1:16.7 | South Korea's disgraced ex-president, Yunsook-Yol, finally had his big day in court today in connection with his failed attempt to impose martial law on the country just over a year ago. |
| 1:24.7 | Noah Snyder is our East Asia Bureau Chief. |
| 1:27.4 | The death penalty was on the table, but in the end he received only a light sentence of life imprisonment for his role as the leader of an insurrection. |
| 1:39.1 | He's likely to appeal the verdict, but neither his appeal nor this sentence will resolve the deeper fissures |
| 1:47.0 | that his actions have helped cause in South Korean society. |
| 1:52.8 | So let's wind back a bit, Noah, to get a history of how we got to this point. |
| 1:58.3 | The story really begins late on December 3rd of 2024 when then President |
| 2:03.2 | Eun appeared across TV screens in South Korea and declared martial law. |
| 2:11.5 | He sent troops to seize the National Assembly, the country's parliament, and also to raid the |
| 2:18.2 | National Election Commission. And the opposition forces in Parliament, the left-leaning Democratic |
| 2:24.4 | Party, mobilized very quickly to try to stop him. Lawmakers rushed to Parliament. They pushed |
| 2:30.9 | past the soldiers with guns who had surrounded the building, |
... |
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