Author: GIKorea

More corruption allegations against the prior Moon administration:

Presidential spokesman Lee Do-woon speaks to reporters in a briefing at the Yongsan presidential office in central Seoul on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

President Yoon Suk Yeol called for “a thorough investigation” of corruption allegations made against solar power projects under the previous government.  
   
The Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) on Tuesday requested a probe on a total of 38 individuals, including government officials, over alleged corrupt acts, and the president ordered the Office of the Secretary for Civil Service Discipline to conduct “a thorough investigation on those who were involved in the decision-making process regarding renewables projects” under the former Moon Jae-in administration, said presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon during a press briefing Wednesday. (…..)

Gunsan Mayor Kang was accused of providing preferential treatment to a local company whose CEO graduated from the same high school as the mayor.

The BAI also accused two former officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of colluding with a private company for a 300-megawatt solar power plant project in Taean, South Chungcheong. The two former officials allegedly helped the company work around a regulation on land use through an authoritative interpretation without a legal basis. One of the officials was later named an executive of the company, and the other official was also hired as an executive of another solar company. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Good luck trying to get any reimbursement from North Korea with this lawsuit:

South Korea’s unification ministry said Wednesday it lodged a damages suit against North Korea over Pyongyang’s 2020 demolition of an inter-Korean liaison office in the North’s border city of Kaesong.

The government filed the lawsuit with the Seoul Central District Court against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea over 44.7 billion won (US$35 million) in damage incurred on the South’s state properties, according to the ministry.

On June 16, 2020, the North blew up the joint liaison office in Kaesong in anger over Seoul’s failure to stop North Korean defectors from sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.

It marked the first time that the South Korean government has sued North Korea.

The legal action came as the statute of limitations for damages to property related to the case is set to expire Friday. Under the civil law, the statute of limitations for the right to claim compensations for damages runs out three years after damage occurs.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

In Japan the big news is that a Japanese Ground Self Defense Force (JGSDF) Soldier at a rifle range went crazy and shot three fellow Soldiers, killing two of them:

NHK has learned that the suspect in the shooting that left two Self-Defense Force members dead has told police that he targeted a 52-year-old instructor.

Two SDF members died and another was injured in the shooting incident in Gifu City, central Japan. Police arrested an 18-year-old male SDF candidate on suspicion of attempted murder.

The suspect reportedly started shooting with an automatic rifle shortly after training began at the shooting range around 9 a.m. on Wednesday.

A 25-year-old and a 52-year-old man have been confirmed dead, and another 25-year-old man is hospitalized. The three were SDF members in charge of training.

The suspect reportedly told police that he intentionally shot his instructor. He also said he shot an SDF member who was next to him because he stood between himself and the instructor and blocked his way.

NHK World

You can read more at the link, but JGSDF officials say they will take measures to prevent this from happening again. I am not sure what you can do to stop someone from going crazy like this guy. Will they chain the weapons to the ground?

Anyway this incident reminded me of the Ingman Range Massacre that happened at Camp Casey in 1981 which was far worse than this incident with the JGSDF.

If there is anyone that regrets working for the prior Moon administration it has to be Cho Kuk because he has lost a lot to include his university position now:

Seoul National University’s disciplinary committee decided Tuesday to fire former Justice Minister Cho Kuk as law professor after a court sentenced him to a two-year prison term on charges of using his influence to get academic favors for his children, including university admissions. 

In February, the Seoul Central District Court gave the prison term to Cho, who served under the previous Moon Jae-in administration, on charges of business obstruction, bribery and abuse of power.

Cho was indicted in December 2019 and the next month the university relieved him of his duties at its law school.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I don’t think the Yoon administration is going to get any appropriate response back from China because the ambassador likely said exactly what the CCP thinks of Korea:

Lee Jae-myung (L), leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, talks with Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming during their meeting at the envoy’s residence in Seoul on June 8, 2023. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

South Korea is waiting for China to take an “appropriate measure” following controversial remarks made by its ambassador in Seoul over South Korea’s ties with the United States, a presidential official said Tuesday.

Tensions have flared between Seoul and Beijing after China’s Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming said in a meeting with main opposition Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung that those who “bet on China’s loss” in its rivalry with the United States “will definitely regret it.”

The remarks were interpreted as a warning to Seoul against aligning itself with Washington.

“From our point of view, there was something that ran contrary” to diplomatic protocols, the presidential official told reporters.

“We’re waiting for the Chinese side to carefully consider this problem and to take the appropriate measure regarding this,” he said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Korean shoppers are supposedly hoarding sea salt due to fears that all the salt off the shores of Korea will soon be contaminated by the release of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant:

Workers produce sea salt at a salt farm in Sinan County, South Jeolla Province, in October 2021. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries denied that the salt price has increased due to hoarding amid the Fukushima concerns. 

“The major cause for the salt price rise was a decrease in production due to more rainy days than usual and retailers’ stockpiling in preparation for the monsoon season,” a ministry official said. 

But the view of industry players was different. They said that while this year’s production decreased by about 30 percent from a year earlier, this was not enough to explain the soaring salt price at present. 

“Japan’s plan has scared consumers off. This would not be the sole reason for increasing salt prices but had some impact for sure,” an official of a salt farm in Sinan County said. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but the IAEA approved of the plan by the Japanese to release the water into the ocean with a small enough amount of radioactivity that it would be diluted. According to the Korean government they have stepped up monitoring of the ocean water around Korea and have not detected any radioactivity.