>South Korea's president declares emergency martial law
>In the last half hour, the president of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, has declared martial law. In an unannounced late night television address he says the move is necessary to protect the country from North Korea's communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements.
>Yoon said the decision was made to remove pro-North Korea forces from the country and to protect the liberal constitutional order. Yoon said he had no choice but to resort to martial law, but did not say in the address what specific measures will be taken.
>The Yonhap News Agency is reporting that the leader of South Korean opposition Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, has said the declaration of martial law is unconstitutional.
>Yonhap is also reporting that Han Dong-hoon, the head of the ruling People Power Party - of which President Yoon Suk Yeol is a member - has also vowed to block the declaration, describing it as "wrong".
>because Ukraine's recruitment model has shattered my confidence that I'm too old for the front lines
In WWII, the maximum conscription age was eventually raised to 51. With most people nowadays being generally more healthy and active for longer as they age, I don't think they'd go below that. In the event of a full-on attack on Britain, the MoD would likely throw everything at defending the country.
Your only hope would then be to hide under a rock in the Southern Hemisphere. To escape both conscription and radiation.
Military says martial law will be maintained until lifted by presidentpublished at 17:23
17:23
The South Korean military says it will maintain martial law until it is lifted by President Yoon Suk Yeol, despite the nation's parliament voting to block its enforcement, according to the country's national broadcaster.
It follows clashes between protesters and the security forces who tried to barricade the National Assembly.
Conscripted, but likely nowhere near the front. Under both historical and current medical classification, most men of my age would be unfit for general service. We'd still be in uniform, but doing a less physically demanding role behind the lines. The men at the sharp end were overwhelmingly younger than 30.
Ukraine has prompted a lot of thinking about that rationale. Their policy of not conscripting men in their early twenties has been a huge experiment - the Ukrainian army is the oldest in recorded history. Obviously young men are fitter, obviously young men are more daring, but a lot of strategists are starting to think that an older but wiser infantry might have some merit. Nobody is really sure if it's particular to Ukraine or a more generalisable change, but the combat dynamics of operating under drone threat might have diminished the importance of physical fitness and bravery; cunning and caution seem to be the order of the day.
