Author: GIKorea

Here is the latest on the US-ROK cost sharing negotiations:

South Korea’s chief negotiator for the defense cost-sharing issue with the United States dismissed speculations of a possible withdrawal of the United States Forces Korea (USFK) from South Korea.

“The possible USFK withdrawal from South Korea wasn’t an issue,” South Korean official Jeong Eun-bo told reporters after closing the fourth round of defense cost negotiations with his U.S counterpart at the State Department, Washington D.C., Wednesday morning (KST).

Jeong added he and his U.S. counterpart didn’t delve into the specifics of recent remarks made by U.S. President Donald Trump in London regarding the fate of the USFK. About 28,500 U.S. troops are currently stationed in South Korea. 

Korea Times

Here is what President Trump had to say recently about the US-ROK alliance:

In London, Trump, who attended an event to mark the 70th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), said it’s up for debate whether maintaining the USFK is in Washington’s national security interest. “It can be debated and I can go either way and make arguments both ways,” Trump told reporters.

Not surprisingly, the U.S. president asked South Korea to make fairer financial contributions and claimed he was able to extract an additional $500 million from Seoul last year for U.S. “protection,” adding Washington wants additional commitments.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

President Moon has to get someone appointed as the Justice Minister to slow down all the corruption investigations into the Blue House:

Choo Mi-ae, a five-term ruling party lawmaker, has been nominated for the position of justice minister, Cheong Wa Dae announced Thursday amid keen attention to her role in the South Korean government’s push for prosecution reform.

President Moon Jae-in picked Choo to fill the post that has been vacant for several weeks since Cho Kuk stepped down in the face of state prosecutors’ probe into alleged irregularities involving his family. (……..)

For Moon, the choice of Choo is viewed as a card to counter the prosecution’s thinly veiled pressure on Cheong Wa Dae with intensive probes into high-profile corruption suspicions, involving longtime confidants to the president, under the leadership of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this is what the Joong Ang Ilbo is speculating she will do once in charge of the Justice Ministry:

Speculation is running high that Choo will shake up the prosecution as soon as she becomes minister. As of now, the prosecution is carrying out at least three investigations that involve allies of President Moon. Probes are ongoing into an allegation that the Moon Blue House carried out a political operation to influence the 2018 local election; the suspicious suspension of a Blue House probe into Moon’s associate Yoo Jae-soo; and the continuing investigation of corruption allegations involving Cho Kuk and his family. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but she is essentially expected to help cover up the corruption allegations surrounding the Blue House.

There is yet another corruption probe into the Blue House where a key witness was found dead:

An investigator at the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office who was previously dispatched to work for the Blue House was found dead on Sunday afternoon in an apparent suicide, just hours before he was scheduled to appear for questioning in a widening election-meddling probe.

The investigator, who was only identified as a 48-year-old man, was found dead on Sunday at around 3 p.m. in an office owned by his acquaintance in Seocho District, southern Seoul, according to police.  

Police found in the office what appeared to be a handwritten note, in which the investigator apologized to his family. Police said the memo did not contain anything about the probe he was involved in.  

Just three hours later, he was supposed to appear at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office as a witness to offer his testimony about his time in the Blue House senior secretary for civil affairs office. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but this investigator was going to testify about Blue House officials that had improperly tampered with the election of the city of Ulsan’s mayor. This alleged tampering allowed a left-wing candidate with close ties to President Moon win the election.

It seems that Korean workers would only be furloughed if there was U.S. troop cuts in South Korea. This is essentially what happened in the 2004-2005 timeframe when 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division was removed from the peninsula which helped lead to a number of U.S. military camp closures. We are not at that point yet with the current cost sharing issue:

Either on normal tours of duty or under a rotational scheme, American troops have comfortably adapted to their new lives in Korea thanks to seamless administrative, health, transportation, communications and cleaning services on the ground.

At the core of their adaptation is a little-known group of around 12,500 South Korean workers, many of whom are gripped by concerns that they could face unpaid leave or furloughs should defense cost-sharing talks between Seoul and Washington go awry.

The concerns have hardened into fears for Kim Hyun-woo, agitated by the passing thought that he could fail to bring home the bacon should he be furloughed by the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), albeit temporarily. He used an alias due to the sensitivity of the issue.

“Though my wife works part time, I am the breadwinner, shouldering all costs related to food, mortgage repayments, education fees for my children and so on. You know what would happen to my family should I be forced to go on leave,” Kim told Yonhap News Agency.

“I hope that my worries about the furlough will be cleared soon, but I also wish that South Korea and the U.S. can find a good compromise, not a hurried one that could end up damaging the interests of both sides,” he added.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

There is yet another corruption scandal involving the Blue House:

Prosecutors raided the Blue House Wednesday for documents related to allegations that the presidential office covered up a probe into the former Busan vice mayor and accusations that he took bribes. 

The Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office announced that it dispatched its prosecutors and investigators to the Blue House at 11:30 a.m. to accept related documents from Blue House officials without physically entering the main Blue House premises. 

It was the third time that prosecutors carried out a raid of the Moon Jae-in Blue House, all conducted in a manner that respected the security sensitivity of the area.

Yoo Jae-soo, Busan’s former vice mayor for economic affairs, is under investigation for allegedly taking nearly 50 million won ($42,400) in bribes. On Nov. 27, a court in Seoul issued a pretrial detention warrant for Yoo, and he’s now detained at the Seoul Eastern Detention Center in Songpa District, southern Seoul.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but the corruption at the Blue House links backed to ousted Justice Minister Cho Kuk and claims the government was spying on private citizens.

Like I said before, President Trump does not respond well to threats:

U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks about the possibility of using force against North Korea appears intended to warn against possible provocations ahead of the year-end deadline the regime set for Washington to show flexibility in their deadlocked nuclear talks, analysts said Wednesday.

Trump made the threat of military action on Tuesday, just hours after the North reiterated that the deadline is approaching and warned that it is entirely up to Washington what “Christmas gift” it wants to get.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has set the deadline for Washington to come up with an acceptable proposal to move forward the nuclear negotiations, warning that Pyongyang could otherwise take a “new way.”

“Now we have the most powerful military we’ve ever had and we’re by far the most powerful country in the world,” Trump told reporters during his trip to London to attend a meeting of North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaders.

“And, hopefully, we don’t have to use it, but if we do, we’ll use it. If we have to, we’ll do it,” he added.

Yonhap

You can read more at he link, but is everyone ready for an interesting 2020?