ROK Drop favorite Dr. Tara O has another great guest posting up over at One Free Korea that I recommend everyone read. This time she discusses how the Moon administration has pre-emptively jailed journalist Byun Hee-jae for libel. Byun has been writing about the infamous tablet PC that ultimately led to the impeachment of former President Park. In the article Dr. O provides further information about how dubious the tablet PC was:
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 tablet PC on display in Seoul
Park was impeached, and Moon was elected. Unlike what has been written in English, Park was not impeached for corruption or bribery, but for charges that she gave away the “monopoly of state affairs,” and the tablet PC was seen as the “silver bullet.”
The tablet PC turned out to contain no evidence per the special prosecutors’ own forensic report and was not even Choi’s. The tablet PC also did not contain Korean document editing-capable software. The report, however, was not released to the public until a year later, long after the impeachment had concluded and the public fervor had died down.
Sohn stated afterwards that “even if there was no such thing as the [insignificant] tablet PC . . . , [it wouldn’t have mattered]” implying that Park would have been impeached anyway, although it was his TV program that incited people. JTBC, popular among the youth, has made other erroneous claims and sensationalized reporting on the Sewol Ferry sinking, Theater High Altitude Air Defense (THAAD), and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). [One Free Korea]
I recommend reading the whole article at the link, but a commenter left a link to another article that shows how Byun’s independent journalism site, Media Watch was likely targeted by the Moon administration for libel because of its dogged pursuit of the tablet PC story:
According to Mediawatch.kr, NFS’s forensic report does NOT even mention the name of Choi Soon-sil, much less pinpoint Choi as the user of the tablet PC that JTBC reported was owned and used by Choi.
Na’s testimony should have prompted an avalanche of reports covering this bombshell of a testimony—at least as torrential as those that gushed out of JTBC when it reported that NFS’s forensic report proved JTBC’s claim that Choi was the user of the tablet PC.
Instead, what happened was (1) a deafening silence on the part of JTBC and other MSM outlets, none of which reported this stunning revelation, and (2) the jailing of Byun Hee-jae, the founder of Mediawatch.kr, the only news outlet that has provided an extensive coverage of the testimony.
Mediawatch has doggedly pursued the JTBC’s disingenuous and illegal activities involving the tablet PC. Na’s crucial testimony was covered only by Mediawatch.kr and Jayoo.co.kr, a small internet news outlet which briefly mentioned Na’s testimony in its coverage of the arrest warrant for Byun Hee-jae, and a Youtube channel run by an investigative reporter U Jongchang formerly of Chosun ilbo, who also attended the court proceedings along with Yi Huiu of Mediawatch and Kim Piljun of JTBC. [Tepyung.com]
Once again I recommend reading the whole thing at the link.
Remember that the actions being taken to silence journalists reporting about the dubious tablet PC is being done in concert with the arrest of Druking, the blogger who helped the Moon administration to manipulate online opinion before the election. So he has been effectively silenced as well about disclosing any other actions that may have occurred prior to the election to help President Moon get elected.
Once again I wonder if we will ever see the major US media report on any of this? Probably not they are too busy reporting on more important topics like Roseanne and Samantha Bee.
Assuming all these charges are true, I tend to think people like this have been doing shady stuff their whole career, but just now finally got caught:
Lt. Col. Christopher DeMure (left) takes command of JBER’s 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment on Aug. 30, 2016. (Credit: From 4/25 Facebook page)
The head of an Army unit stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson is charged with filing nearly half a million dollars in fraudulent insurance claims spanning more than three years.
Lt. Col. Christopher DeMure, 40, faces charges of mail and wire fraud as well as money laundering in the case, according to U.S. Attorney for Alaska, Bryan Schroder’s office. DeMure – commander of the 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment within the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division – allegedly made over $475,000 in false claims and received nearly $400,000 from September 2014 to February of this year.
U.S. Army Alaska spokesman John Pennell confirmed DeMure’s status as commander of the battalion, which recently returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan, but he referred all other questions about the case to Schroder’s office.
According to charging documents, DeMure’s scheme involved claims made to military insurer USAA Federal Savings Bank as well as American Express on at least seven separate occasions. In one incident, he allegedly claimed more than $215,000 in false losses from a U-Haul van he said was burglarized in July 2016 when he moved to JBER from Fort Benning, Ga. [KTVA News 11]
You can read much more at the link, but once again assuming all of this is true, LTC DeMure must have thought USAA was stupid and would not catch on to his fraud claims. You would think he would at least try to make fraudulent claims with different insurance companies instead of making them all with USAA which makes it easier to detect.
I would have to think this guy must have some mental issues or was drunk for killing someone for being too loud:
A man surnamed Lee in his 40s has been arrested by police for allegedly killing his neighbor who “made too much noise” at night.
Busan Saha Police Station said Tuesday that it is investigating the man on the charge of murder.
The suspect is accused of stabbing a 31-year-old who lived in the same apartment building in Saha-gu, Busan, around 2 a.m. Tuesday. He was caught red-handed after the victim’s friend filed a report to police.
The victim was sent to a nearby hospital but died in the middle of surgery around 6 a.m. Tuesday. [Korea Herald]
You can read more at the link, but apparently the neighbor was being loud with his friends in front of the apartment while waiting for a taxi.
The power blogger known as “Druking” has now confessed that Democratic Party representative and close friend to President Moon Jae-in approved his plan to manipulate online opinion during the last ROK Presidential election:
Kim Dong-won
The power blogger known as Druking claimed that former Democratic Party Rep. Kim Kyoung-soo approved the use of software to rig “likes” on political comments online to help Moon Jae-in in the presidential campaign of 2017.
“In September 2016, when Kim Kyoung-soo visited my office in Paju, I told him how the winning parties in the 2007 and 2012 presidential elections used a certain program online to manipulate public opinion,” the blogger, a 49-year-old man named Kim Dong-won, wrote in a letter dated Thursday, according to the Chosun Ilbo on Friday. “So in October of that year, I briefed Rep. Kim about the so-called ‘King Crab’ program in my office.”
Druking is charged with obstruction of business, a punishable crime in Korea. Three of his associates face the same charge over their use of software to manipulate comments on Naver, a portal that many Koreans use to access news.
Prosecutors said the software allowed the group to automatically log in and out of individual members’ accounts and change their IP addresses. The group said it used the Amazon Web Services platform to develop the software.
“Kim was briefed about the program and confirmed in person how the program works,” the blogger wrote. “I told him, ‘If we do not use the program we will lose in the election again. If something goes wrong, I will take responsibility and go to jail. But we cannot do this without your consent or agreement. So will you give your consent, even just by a nod, if you cannot say anything?’
“And Kim nodded, so I told him, ‘We will go ahead with this plan,’” the blogger wrote. “Leaving the office, Kim said, ‘Why did you have to show me this? You should have just carried it out as you saw fit.’ And I told him, ‘We will take care of it as if you had not seen it.’” [Joong Ang Ilbo]
Here is what caused the falling out between Druking’s group and the Democrat Party:
The blogger wrote, “We tried really hard to help Moon during the election so we asked Kim around February [2017] to include two of our associates in the election policy committee of the Democratic Party, and one did make it on, but the other did not.
“So after the election we asked Kim if the associate could be recommended as the next Korean ambassador to Japan, but Kim said he couldn’t make the recommendation,” the blogger wrote. “Then he called me on Dec. 28, 2017, to ask, ‘What do you think about the job as consul general in Sendai?’
“Sendai was a place that diplomats did not like to go because it’s close to Fukushima, where they had the nuclear disaster,” the blogger wrote. “I felt like Kim was making a fool of me. So I denied the offer.”
You can read more at the link, because there was some bribery allegedly involved as well. Since Druking turned on President Moon to use his software to attack him I fully expect he will feel the full weight of the ROK justice system. For Representative Kim Kyoung-soo I would be surprised if anything happens to him since I doubt the Moon administration will put any pressure on prosecutors to investigate him.
Here is the latest on the online opinion rigging scandal in South Korea that has largely been buried by the headlines out of North Korea:
Kim Dong-won, a power blogger accused of manipulating online opinion for partisan purposes, arrives at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, for his second trial hearing on Wednesday. [NEWS1]A power blogger known online as Druking and his associates face allegations that they engaged in a systematic campaign during last year’s presidential election to sway public opinion in favor of President Moon Jae-in by manipulating the comments section on news articles.Text messages obtained exclusively by the JoongAng Ilbo on Tuesday offer a glimpse into how the group worked and the extent of their ties with the Democratic Party.
The blogger, Kim Dong-won, and his associates used an encrypted messaging app called Telegram to exchange links to articles where they would apparently leave comments and use software to “like” ones that were favorable toward Moon, then a presidential candidate.
In a series of messages dated April 17, 2017, an associate of Kim who allegedly developed the rigging software posted a link to an article about each candidate’s platform. The comment that ended up receiving the most likes on that article was one that criticized the Liberty Korea Party, Moon’s opposition.
“Those LKP people like Lee Myung-bak, Park Geun-hye and Hong Joon-pyo, they always talk about representing ordinary citizens. As if they would.” That comment received 837 likes.
On the same day, another member uploaded a link to an article about Moon’s platform. Comments such as “Young and old alike support Moon Jae-in” and “Go Moon” received the most likes, ranging from 100 to 200. The consistency between the comments of news articles posted to the Telegram chat room suggests the group had a hand in manipulating those comments. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but of interest is that Druking’s group was not only targeting conservatives, but coordinating with Moon Jae-in friends to target liberal rivals such as Ahn Cheol-soo:
In an earlier message dated April 6, 2017, Kim sent out a link to an article about Moon starting his campaign from Gwangju and wrote, “I ask for your support.” In the comments section, Kim had left a post criticizing Ahn Cheol-soo, one of Moon’s rivals.
“At the time, Ahn was rising in ranks and it looked like the election might be Ahn versus Moon,” said a member of the group who requested anonymity, “so we focused on criticizing Ahn in the comments.”
The messages also indicate ties between the group and Kim Kyoung-soo, then a lawmaker and close friend of Moon. “This link to the article was sent by Rep. Kim Kyoung-soo, so we better work on it once more in the morning,” the blogger, Kim Dong-won, wrote in the chat room in July 2017.
The revelation is the latest implicating the Democratic Party in the online manipulation scandal.
I have to wonder if Druking’s group was also used by the Moon campaign to target former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon? Ban withdrew from seeking the ROK presidency due to what he called all the “fake news” allegations brought against him.
Overall though it is pretty clear that outside of conservative media in South Korea, this story is largely going under the radar.
Here is the latest on the online opinion rigging scandal in South Korea:
In the latest development of Korea’s own “fake news” case, an influential blogger charged with manipulating comments on the country’s most popular portal site may have collected donations for a ruling party lawmaker, according to files obtained by the police on Tuesday, deepening suspicions that the blogger may have masterminded his campaign on behalf of the Democratic Party.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency obtained the files from a USB drive belonging to a close associate of Kim Dong-won, the blogger known online as Druking. The finding is the latest in a police investigation of Druking’s alleged campaign to rig online opinion in favor of President Moon Jae-in during last year’s election.
According to the police, Druking and his team used software to fiddle with the comments section on Naver by increasing the number of “likes” on certain comments and giving the appearance that one opinion dominated on the forum. Druking allegedly used the software to help Moon win the election, but when the president’s office refused to grant patronage positions to some of his acquaintances after the election, the blogger turned on Moon by having his team like comments critical of the president.
The police arrested Druking in March for his anti-Moon campaign, and at his first trial hearing last week, the blogger admitted to the charge. Central to Druking’s online activities was a community he ran called Kyungkongmo. According to files from the USB drive, members of the online community collected over 30 million won ($27,800) to deliver to Rep. Kim Kyoung-soo, a Democratic Party lawmaker with close ties to President Moon. The police are investigating allegations that Kim may have worked with Druking to manipulate online opinion during last year’s election and that Kyungkongmo may have supplied the manpower. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but I find it interesting that the police only cracked down on Druking after he turned on President Moon. Why wasn’t he arrested before then? Was his activities okay as long as they were targeted against Korean conservatives?
I wonder if President Moon has cleverly decided to let authorities make their arrests for this online opinion rigging scandal involving his administration at a time when news coverage of it would be drowned out by the Inter-Korean and US-DPRK Summits?:
South Korean police said Monday they’ve found additional comment manipulation by a power blogger and his accomplices, who have been indicted for tempering with Internet comments on politically sensitive news articles.
Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said the blogger, who goes by the nickname “Druking,” and his followers manipulated some 20,000 comments on 675 news articles using 2,290 different IDs from Jan. 17 to 18.
A ruling party lawmaker and former aide to President Moon Jae-in is also probed over his alleged ties with the blogger. (…….)
The police said it has booked 21 additional members of the online community founded by Druking for their involvement in the online opinion rigging scheme. The police said so far 30 people have been booked for the case. [Yonhap]
I had no idea that the name of the infamous aircraft that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima was actually someone’s name:
Gov. Eddie Calvo’s former spokesman Troy Torres was arrested in connection with conspiracy to distribute drugs after police found methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in a residence, police said Saturday.
Torres, 37, of Mangilao was arrested Friday after the Mandaña Drug Task Force and SWAT raided a house on Chrysanthemum Street in Latte Heights, according to Guam Police Department spokesman Sgt. Paul Tapao.
Torres, along with the two others he was arrested with — John Vincent Aguigui Salas, 35, and Enolagay Aliga, 27, both of whom were arrested in connection with illegal possession of a Schedule II controlled substance, according to Tapao — were released Saturday afternoon, according to the Department of Corrections. [Pacific Daily News]
You can read more at the link, but the Enola Gay airplane actually took off from the island of Tinian which is a short distance north of Guam in the Mariana Islands chain. I wonder if her parents named her after the plane?
This guy on Guam was arrested for trying to implement the “drinky girl” system with Filipino women that was once prevalent around US military installations in South Korea:
A producer who arranged for band members from the Philippines to perform on Guam, but had them illegally sell drinks in bars, “sounds like a bad guy,” said District Court of Guam Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood, who questioned why he got such a lenient deal from prosecutors.
“I’m not sympathetic to this guy,” she said. “It sounds like he’s holding them hostage.”
Jemuel Luciano appeared in district court twice this week for sentencing after he entered a plea agreement.
In 2013, Luciano petitioned band members to come to Guam to perform, documents state. The female band members performed at Club Chicboy and other bars, and during their breaks were forced to sell drinks at about $30 a drink, which violated their visa status, said prosecutor Stephen Leon Guerrero.
Of the $30 drink sales, $10 would go to the bar, $10 would go to the band and $10 would go to Luciano, said Department of Homeland Security agent Brent Tablan. [Pacific Daily News]
Two Korean nationals were part of the group of 10 people killed in the deadly van attack in Toronto:
Minassian has been taken into police custody and is due to appear in court on Tuesday. Police have not disclosed his motive, but sources suggested mental illness was a factor
Two Koreans were killed and one was injured in a van attack in Toronto, the Korean government said Tuesday (KST).
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said two Koreans were killed and one was seriously wounded as a result of the attack, in which a van plowed into pedestrians in the Canadian city. Their identities have not been disclosed.
The government has sent consular officials to local hospitals and police stations to help them and their families.
“The foreign ministry has taken necessary steps, including contacting the families of the victims, and plans to provide relevant consular support,” a ministry official said.
A large Korean community is in the area. The incident occurred when people rushed out for lunch.
According to reports, a man deliberately plowed his white Ryder rental van into a lunch-hour crowd, killing 10 people and injuring 15.
The suspect, Alek Minassian, 25, of Richmond Hill, Ontario, is in custody. Minassian was arrested about 30 minutes after police received the emergency call. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but the reported reason for this attack is one of the weirdest yet; this killer Alek Minassian is supposedly part of an online group called “incel” for being involuntary celibate due to women rejecting him. This attack was a way to stand up for the “incel’ community.
