Wednesday morning news: December 4, 2024

SOUND: [South Korean demonstrators]

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: South Korea » Chaos in South Korea Tuesday as hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets outside the country's parliament building.

They were protesting a decision by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to declare an emergency martial law.

YOON: [Speaking n Korean]

Speaking there, Yoon insisted the declaration was necessary. He said pro-communist forces had infiltrated parliament and were conducting seditious anti-state activities on behalf of North Korea.

In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder told reporters:

RYDER: Secretary Austin and the Department of Defense continue to monitor the developing situation in the Republic of South Korea...

He said the U.S. government was keeping a close eye on the Korean peninsula...but said it saw no change in North Korean activities.

Shortly after Yoon's announcement, South Korea's parliament voted to halt the martial law declaration. President Yoon ultimately relented announcing his decision to lift the order just six hours after he issued it.

Biden Angola / dodges questions about pardon » President Biden made some history on Tuesday, becoming the first U.S. president to visit Angola. His stop in the Sub-Saharan African country was aimed at highlighting billions of dollars of commitments there.

BIDEN:  The United States is all in, all in Angola. We've already, my administration alone, has invested over 3 billion in Angola thus far. The future of the world is here, in Africa, in Angola.

Biden touted what he called the largest ever U.S. rail investment overseas.

The Biden administration has been trying to counter China, which has a strong and growing influence in Africa.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby

KIRBY:  We hope, uh, very much that the incoming team will take a hard look at this and see for themselves the value in it and the benefits, again, not just to the people of Africa, Sub Saharan Africa, but the whole continent as well as the American people.

President Biden addressed reporters about those investments, but he dodged questions about his presidential pardon of his son Hunter after vowing he would not pardon him.

Trump asks court to toss NY business conviction » President-elect Donald Trump’s lawyers have formally asked a judge to throw out his business fraud conviction in New York. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: Trump’s lawyers told Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan in court papers that dismissal is warranted … because of the extraordinary circumstances of his impending return to the White House. They argue continuing the case would present unconstitutional “disruptions to the institution of the Presidency."

And they say it would undermine the—quote—“overwhelming national mandate" granted to Trump by voters last month.

Prosecutors have said they will fight any efforts to dismiss the case. But they have indicated openness to delaying sentencing until after Trump’s second term ends in 2029.

They have until Monday to formally respond to Trump’s filing.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Chinese illegal immigrant charged » A Chinese illegal immigrant has been charged with shipping weapons and ammunition to North Korea, in exchange for a $2 million-dollar payment.

Federal authorities in Los Angeles say 41-year-old Shenghua Wen told investigators the weapons were to be used for a surprise attack on South Korea.

U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Martin Estrada:

ESTRADA:  We allege that he conspired with government officials in North Korea to obtain military supplies including firearms and ammunition to obtain technology and then conceal that technology and those materials in shipping containers that departed from the port of Long Beach and then ship those materials on to North Korea.

Wen reportedly came to the U.S. more than a decade ago on a student visa from China and stayed in the country illegally. Federal authorities say Wen admitted to exporting weapons and ammunition to North Korea at the request of its government.

He could face decades behind bars.

SOUND: [Snow blower]

Great Lakes snow » Snow blowers hard at work in the Great Lakes region today.

Lake-effect snowstorms pounded the area over the weekend dumping several feet of snow. Some areas east of Lake Ontario reported more than 5 feet.

Dave Hamrick with the Weather Prediction Center warns that another storm system could add several more later this week.

HAMRICK:  Starting late tomorrow and especially into Thursday we'll see another round of snow as another reinforcement of Arctic air mass comes in … from the Northwest.

Parts of western Pennsylvania could see another 3 to 9 inches.

Christmas shopping forecast » Retail experts, though, say the forecast for the Christmas shopping season is looking pretty good.

National Retail Federation CEO Matthew Shay told reporters:

SHAY:  Our forecast for the winter holiday spending season, that's November one to December 31 is that sales will increase between 2. 5 and 3.5 percent above 2023 levels.

That would reflect a record-high for holiday shopping.

Already, so-called ‘Cyber Monday’ this week smashed records, with Americans spending more than $13 billion dollars on their online shopping.

That comes after shoppers spent almost $11 billion online on Black Friday, a 10.% increase over last year.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: threatened tariffs and Tennessee’s day in court. That’s on Washington Wednesday. Plus, the United Kingdom moves a step closer to allowing doctor assisted suicide.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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