All language subtitles for Global.Eye.S2025E02.1080p.iP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-HiNGS_track3_[eng]

Welcome to Global Eye
from the BBC World Service,

a new programme bringing you
the best

of the World Service's
investigative journalism

and unmissable reporting
from BBC teams around the globe.

I'm Jean Mackenzie,

the BBC's correspondent
in South Korea.

There's been enormous upheaval here
after the country's president tried

to orchestrate a military takeover.

It shocked this country to its core
and it's only just recovering.

I'll be explaining what happened

and why, and where South Korea
goes from here.

And...how do you keep your culture
and traditions alive

when nature has forced you
to abandon your homeland?

We'll be following
the former residents

of a tiny Caribbean island,

fighting to maintain their way
of life amidst a climate emergency.

But first, the team at BBC Eye
Investigations have worked with

an international consortium
of journalists.

They've uncovered
disturbing new evidence about

the fate of hundreds of children
who ended up in orphanages

in Syria during the rule of
Bashar al-Assad,

the former Syrian leader
whose regime collapsed last year.

HE SPEAKS ARABIC
No!

HE EXHALES DEEPLY

When the fall of the regime
in December 2024

arrived, we had an opportunity
for the reunification

of these children with their family.

We have successfully reunited
14 of them,

but we still have 104 missing.

So you didn't take
any action at the time

to try to find out
what was going to happen

to these 104 children who were given
back to the security?

The regime and the ministry
came to take them.

We don't know where the regime
took them.

We have commissioned an external

and independent investigation
to know the truth.

And you can see
the full investigation,

Syria's Stolen Children,

on iPlayer now, as well as
on the BBC website.

I moved here to Seoul
three years ago

to report on North and South Korea
for the BBC.

The two countries
are still technically

at war with each other,

even though they stopped fighting
in the 1950s.

And on the surface,

these countries couldn't
be more different.

In the North, you have a brutal,

totalitarian dictatorship
run by Kim Jong Un.

Its people can't even access
the internet.

While South Korea is a peaceful
and proud democracy,

famous for its advanced technology
and its pop music.

I didn't expect I'd end up reporting
on a military coup here in Seoul.

But in December last year,
the president,

Yoon Suk Yeol,
unexpectedly declared martial law.

He suspended
all political activities

and ordered the army
to take control.

He had troops storm the parliament

to stop its politicians
from getting in.

Mr Yoon claimed he was doing this
because the country

and its institutions
had been infiltrated

by supporters of North Korea,

and they were trying to turn
South Korea into a communist state.

But the reality is that he was
a deeply unpopular president

who didn't have a majority
in Parliament and was frustrated

because he couldn't
govern effectively.

People who knew him told me

that this was a desperate move
by somebody

who had become
more and more delusional.

That night in December,

people rushed to the parliament here
to try to stop this.

They were horrified.
Although South Korea is a democracy,

it's a very young one.

It's been fewer than 40 years
since people fought

and died to end decades
of military dictatorships,

and this night reminded them of
that dark time.

Despite the troops,
enough MPs managed to get inside

the parliament to vote down
the president's order.

Then there were weeks of protests
in the freezing cold,

which I covered for the BBC,

until Mr Yoon was removed
from office.

Now he's on trial for what he did
and could face life in prison.

These windows were smashed in
by the troops that night.

And although the period of
martial law only lasted six hours,

it was followed by months
of upheaval.

People told me they were frightened,
because they didn't feel

they could trust their democracy
any more.

And society became
radically polarised.

The country's only recently started
to heal,

with the election of
a new president,

Mr Lee Jae Myung, the former leader
of South Korea's opposition party.

He's promised to strengthen
South Korea's democracy to make sure

the events of that night
can never happen again.

One of the first things he's tried

to do is to improve relations
with North Korea.

Tensions between the North
and South flared up under Mr Yoon,

who was accused of antagonising
Kim Jong Un.

But a lot has changed

since the North and South
were last on speaking terms.

Mr Kim has signed a defence pact

with the Russian president,
Vladimir Putin,

and is helping him fight the war
in Ukraine.

And so far, the North has rejected
all of Mr Lee's attempts to talk.

But when Mr Lee visited
the White House in August,

President Trump praised his attempts
to engage with the North.

A lot of leaders -
I've gone through a lot of

leaders in South Korea -

you know, it's been quick,
you'll be there for a long time.

But in the various leaders
that I've dealt with,

they were not
approaching it properly,

in my opinion,
having to do with North Korea.

But I think your approach
is a much better one.

Given their history,
President Trump probably has

a better chance of getting
Kim Jong Un

back to the negotiating table,
but that's far from guaranteed.

For now, the North and South
are still poles apart.

And although people here
are so relieved

their democracy survived,

they've realised they can't take

their hard-fought freedom
for granted.

Now, here's some more of the best
BBC World Service content

you can catch this week.

Every month,
World Questions gives voice

to people's concerns
about the burning issues

affecting their country.

This month, Jonny Diamond is
in Athens to debate solutions to

the country's falling population and
the pros and cons of mass tourism.

And you can hear stories

from our 42 Language Services
in the Fifth Floor Podcast.

This week, they're exploring the new

trends and technologies used
by Colombian drug cartels -

from recruiting their own
scientists, to using cutting edge,

remotely-operated submarines.

Listen to both of these programmes
on BBC Sounds,

or wherever you get
your BBC podcasts.

Next, here's a thought-provoking
tale from BBC Mundo,

our Spanish service,
which covers Latin America.

The indigenous Guna community
have inhabited

the Caribbean island of Gardi Sugdub
for more than 100 years.

But, now rising sea levels
mean their home is under threat,

so the government of Panama

is relocating people
to the mainland.

Could this be a model

for others facing climate
emergencies in the future?

The indigenous Guna people
have lived on this island

for over 100 years.

Here they found refuge,
after escaping

from Spanish colonisers

and from subsequent wars
with rival tribes.

Since then, Gardi Sugdub, which in
Guna means "Crab Island",

has not stopped growing
and expanding.

But overcrowding was not
the only problem on the island.

The sea level also became
a risk factor.

Experts estimate
that it might be completely

uninhabitable by 2050,

and that the other islands of
the Guna Yala archipelago

are likely to suffer
the same fate in the coming decades.

300 families were displaced from
the island of Gardi Sugdub

to Isberyala,
a new site on the mainland.

A forced exodus
that has been described

as one of the first relocations due
to climate change in Latin America.

Most of them decided to leave,

but there are not enough houses
in the new site for everyone.

The relocation plan began
more than ten years ago

when there were
fewer inhabitants.

Some families were separated.

Isberyala took more than a decade
to build.

The government invested $50 million.

The Inter-American
Development Bank

also contributed financially.

The work of the community

has also been essential
in this project.

There is no medical centre
in Isberyala.

This is one of the biggest debts
of this displacement.

But the Guna people who moved away

make efforts to maintain
their identity.

Thanks for joining me in Seoul.

Global Eye will be back again
next week. Goodbye.