Here is the latest on the Druking online opinion rigging scandal:
Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo
A partisan squabble over an opinion-rigging scandal involving an incumbent governor resumed Thursday as the team of investigators led by special counsel Huh Ik-bum decided not to request an extension of its operating term.
Thirteen special counsel investigations have been carried out in Korea, and Huh is the first not to seek an extension of the team’s term.
The special counsel team’s probe lost momentum after the court rejected its request for a warrant to detain South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo on the suspicion that he colluded with a group led by an influential blogger to manipulate public opinion on the internet.
The special counsel has decided to indict Gov. Kim without detention, saying an extension of the probe is unnecessary as it has collected enough evidence to prove the charges against him.
Main opposition Liberty Korea Party floor leader Kim Sung-tae slammed the decision, vowing to “find out the truth” behind the case through next month’s parliamentary audit and a parliamentary inquiry.
“Everyone knows that Druking’s group and key advisers to the Moon Jae-in administration undermined democracy by manipulating online comments,” Rep. Kim Sung-tae said during a meeting at the National Assembly on Thursday.
Accusing the Moon administration of “incapacitating” the special counsel and criticizing it for not dismissing Seoul police Chief Lee Joo-min who led the initial probe into the case, Rep. Kim called on Huh to change his mind and request an extension before his special investigative rights expire Saturday. [Korea Herald]
Judging by these statements it appears that President Trump is not about to agree to any “pretend denuclearization” deal with North Korea in return for dropping sanctions:
U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday North Korea must “get rid of the nukes” before seeing any relief from international sanctions, making clear that he’s waiting for more tangible actions on denuclearization.
Speaking at a rally in West Virginia, Trump said he wanted to take the “massive sanctions” imposed on the North for its nuclear and long-range missile tests and launches “off quickly,” but emphasized Pyongyang must take denuclearization steps first.
“Can I be honest? I haven’t taken off the sanctions. We have massive sanctions,” said the former real estate mogul before cheering crowds. “I want to take them off quickly. But they have got to get rid of the nukes. Got to get rid of the nukes,” stressed Trump.
Trump’s remarks jibed with the U.S. government’s decision on Tuesday to slap sanctions on two Russian shipping companies and six Russian vessels for under-the-table dealings with North Korea in violation of UN sanctions. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but it will be interesting to see what the Kim regime will do in response. They could just decide to wait out the clock and see if President Trump is defeated in the next election and try again for a “pretend denuclearization” deal with another President.
Warner Bros. tried to create a Korean blockbuster film and failed miserably:
When Warner Bros. Korea’s “V.I.P.” was criticized by the internet last year over its inappropriate depiction of its female characters, the film company thought things could not get any worse. But its latest release, “Illang: The Wolf Brigade,” proved that it had yet to hit rock bottom.
Featuring high profile actors, including Gang Dong-won, Han Hyo-joo and Jung Woo-sung, joined by the award-winning director Kim Jee-woon, “Illang” is an adaptation of the 1999 Japanese animated film “Jin-Roh,” which is known as a seminal sci-fi movie. With a star-studded cast and a massive production budget that exceeded its first locally-produced hit, “The Age of Shadows” (2016), which sold 7.5 million tickets, Warner Bros. Korea had high hopes for “Illang.”
However, “Illang” sold merely 897,000 tickets and was forced out of theaters in three weeks – a shockingly poor performance for a film that cost 19 billion won (＄17.04 million) to make. The film needed to sell six million tickets to break even. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
So why did this movie fail? I would start with the stupid plot:
The Korean adaptation relocates the story from post-World War II Japan to South Korea in 2029, a period after the two Koreas have declared a five-year preparation for unification. Fearing rapid growth in Korea following the planned unification, the world’s superpowers impose economic sanctions against the country. The economic difficulties lead to public outrage and result in the emergence of an armed terrorist group named Sect, which opposes the formation of a joint government between South and North Korea. In response, the government launches a special police unit to quell Sect. Feeling threatened by the growing influence of the special police unit, the national intelligence agency plots to bring the unit down.
Got all that? Is it any wonder the audience ratings for this movie were bad especially when it involves significantly changing the plot of a high respected classic Japanese anime.
High waves are seen off Seogwipo on the southern resort island of Jeju on Aug. 22, 2018, as Typhoon Soulik moves north toward the Korean Peninsula from seas near southern Japan. (Yonhap)
This news just continues to justify my belief that the special counsel over the Druking scandal was put together as part of the cover up to protect Kim Kyoung-soo:
Special counsel Huh Ik-bum speaks during a press briefing over the Druking case on July 20, 2018. (Yonhap)
Special prosecutors probing a high-profile political scandal involving an influential blogger and a prominent governor said Wednesday it will not seek to extend their designated term and plans to wrap up the investigation this Saturday.
The team of 87 investigators, led by special counsel Huh Ik-bum, was launched on June 27 after the National Assembly passed a bill on the independent probe into an alleged massive rigging of online news comments.
South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo, then a ruling Democratic Party lawmaker, allegedly conspired with an influential power blogger, known by his nickname Druking, into manipulating comments in online news articles to benefit the DP, between October 2016 and early this year.
Under the law regarding a special prosecution, the special counsel is given an initial two-month term to dig into the case and can seek an additional 30-day term if deemed necessary.
In Wednesday’s press briefing, the special prosecution said it will deliver its official result of the opinion rigging probe next Monday.
Huh has faced criticism that his team is not doing enough to crack the case. Critics have questioned the independence of the special prosecution, saying the fact that the probe is targeting Gov. Kim, a potential presidential candidate who is known for his close ties to President Moon Jae-in.
Huh sought an arrest warrant for Kim earlier this month. The court turned it down citing a lack of reasons for it.
The suicide of Rep. Roh Hoe-chan, a veteran politician from a minor progressive party, over his alleged connection to Druking, is also seen as another factor that has affected the probe. [Yonhap]
With the elimination of the special counsel, now Governor Kim and his left wing political defenders can go around on the now largely left-wing controlled media and claim the special counsel found nothing and Kim has been cleared. The media will probably not point out though that the Special Counsel could not even arrest low level people for questioning much less try to question Governor Kim. The media also likely won’t mention that the Special Counsel was able to only search the office of Governor Kim that had been open for one month. I would not be surprised if the office was opened specifically for the Special Counsel to search and find nothing.
Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo
For those that don’t know Kim Kyoung-soo is a trusted friend and confidant of ROK President Moon Jae-in. The power blogger called Druking alleges that Kim directed his team’s online opinion rigging operation to turn public opinion against liberal rival Ahn Cheol-soo and then conservative rivals during the last presidential election. When Druking’s team did not receive the political payback they had been promised they turned on Kim Kyoung-soo and began targeting President Moon with their opinion rigging software. Once they turned on Moon that is when authorities arrested them, not when they were targeting conservatives.
I have always maintained that Kim Kyoung-soo and others from the Moon administration involved in this scandal would never be held accountable. You can say what you want about the Korean left, but they know how the circle the wagons and protect their own. This is just more evidence of this.
Typhoon Soulik has arrived and is drenching South Korea in heavy rain; be safe out there:
A solar panel swept off the roof of a senior citizens center in Samyang-dong, Jeju City, knocking over a telephone pole as Typhoon Soulik passed Thursday. [NEWS1]As Typhoon Soulik landed in Korea earlier this morning, the national weather administration warned of extremely strong winds and heavy rains throughout the country.
“The typhoon will bring on Friday strong winds of 30 to 40 meters per second [67 to 89 miles per hour] on land and winds of over 50 meters per second in mountainous areas,” said the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). “With this kind of wind, glass windows, street lamps and electricity poles can break. Watch out for your safety.”
This was the first time in six years that a typhoon has landed in Korea. Typhoon alerts were issued in Jeju Island, South Gyeongsang, the Jeolla and Chungcheong regions, and in the cities of Sejong, Gwangju, Busan and Daejeon Thursday afternoon.
The weather agency said it will rain more than 50 millimeters (two inches) per hour in Jeju Island, the southern coastal regions and in Gangwon as the typhoon moves northeast across the peninsula.
The medium-sized typhoon left destruction in its path as it passed near Jeju Island from Wednesday to Thursday. Some 30 trees were uprooted in Jeju City, some 12,000 households lost power across the island – of which some 4,600 had not recovered power as of press time Thursday – and at least one person went missing. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
Does anyone have any suggestions on what to call the North Koreans since South Korea doesn’t want to use the word “enemy”?:
South Korea is considering deleting its reference to North Korea’s military as “our enemy” in its defense white paper to be published later this year, multiple government sources in Seoul said Wednesday.
The move is in line with the April inter-Korean summit agreement to halt “all hostile acts” against each other, seek to alleviate tensions and “practically eliminate the danger of war.”
“It would be contradictory if we hold consultations (with the North) over measures to halt hostile acts, which are mentioned in the Panmunjom Declaration, while leaving the description of the North Korean military as an enemy in our government’s official paper,” a government source told Yonhap News Agency on condition of anonymity.
“We have been striving to come up with a way to use a phrase or word that would sufficiently reflect the North’s military threat instead of using the ‘enemy’ expression,” he added. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but here we go again with the pretend game. We already have “pretend denuclearization” going on and now we have “pretend non-enemies”.
we are nearing the point where the u.s. will need to decide whether to acknowledge that the dprk isn’t disarming and never agreed to, or get angry that the dprk is breaking promises it never made https://t.co/NyMRRAq35b
This image released by the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) on Aug. 22, 2018, shows the expected route of Typhoon Soulik. The typhoon is expected to move north toward the Korean Peninsula from the sea south of Japan to hit South Korea within the coming days together, bringing heavy rains and strong winds. (Yonhap)
