Category: Korean Government

There is so much irony here when President Moon calls the Japanese trade restrictions “politically motivated”. Wasn’t the Moon administration’s attacks on Japan cancelling the comfort women agreement and threatening to confiscate assets of Japanese companies politically motivated?:

 President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday ratcheted up the pressure on Japan to stop heading toward a “dead end” with “politically motivated” export restrictions against South Korea.

Speaking at a meeting with dozens of local business leaders at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, he stressed that the government is doing its best for a diplomatic resolution to the problem.

“I hope the Japanese government will respond to it,” Moon said. “I hope it will no longer go toward a dead end.”

He pointed out that Japan has taken the measure to damage the South Korean economy for political purposes, even groundlessly connecting it with sanctions on North Korea.

The move is “never desirable” for friendly ties and security cooperation between the two nations and is harmful to their economies and the global economy, Moon added.

He made it clear that his administration will push for international cooperation to cope with Japan’s action, while preparing for every possibility, such as a drawn-out bilateral trade standoff.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is an excerpt from a joint statement put out by former senior officials of the Korean Foreign Service that was translated by Dr. Tara O:

With massive economic, financial, and technological assistance from our staunch allies, including the United States and Japan, Korea was not only able to quickly rebuild its economy, but concentrate on developing key sectors, such as heavy industry, petrochemicals, construction, shipbuilding, automobiles, and the electronics industry, including semiconductors, to become one of the world’s leading industrial and trade powerhouses.

Strenuously ignoring this proud history of its foundation and the development of the Republic of Korea, President Moon Jae-in continues to threaten the Republic of Korea-U.S. alliance, which has served as the cornerstone of our nation’s development.

The close ties between our two nations is under assault from several fronts, including the transfer of wartime operational control between Korea and the U.S., a lukewarm response to the deployment of THAAD on the peninsula, refusal to take part in the U.S.-led missile defense system, and vacillation over participating in a Korea-U.S.-Japan partnership.

In its foreign policy towards Japan, the Moon administration has adopted the anachronistic stance of treating Japan as if it were still yesterday’s imperialist power, instead of one of today’s important defenders of free democracy and a member of the G7 countries.  The Moon administration continuously provokes Japan over emotionally-charged disputes regarding the misfortunes in the history of the two countries, and thereby not only harming our national interests, but earning the reproach of the international community.

Overly conscious of China, the Moon administration has adopted a recalcitrant attitude towards the Korea-U.S. defense partnership, making promises contrary to the Korea-U.S.-Japan alliance and taking an almost servile attitudes towards China, with little regard to our national sovereignty. 

On the other hand, the administration is relentlessly extending unrealistic reconciliatory gestures towards North Korea, the very party that has threatened our national foundation and subsequent stable and peaceful economic development.

East Asia Research Center

You can read more at the link.

#MoonJaein nominated Inspector Yoon Seok-ryul, who viciously went after Moon's political opponents, to the post of chief prosecutor. https://t.co/Jgkn1APjBK

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) June 17, 2019

Seoul City Mayor spends budget like water for populist policy, including "free cash" to youths, & raises taxes. So does Gyeonggi governor Lee Jae-myeong. So does Moon Jae-in. Why do they so doggedly pursue what Maduro has done in Venezuela? https://t.co/VEF5EdT6aV

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) May 26, 2019

Kim San-jo, #SouthKorea's Fair Trade Commission head, says #MoonJaein is like Steve Jobs #2. What? Kim & Moon both r busy over-regulating businesses, kicking out CEOs, investigating/harassing businesses non-stop, & stifle innovation. Where's the similarity? https://t.co/rXoxrJdIrz

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) May 28, 2019

It appears the ROK foreign ministry is not very good at keeping state secrets:

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has come under fire once again for an ethical lapse among its staff after a diplomat leaked information from a telephone conversation between President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump. 

Cheong Wa Dae and the ministry are considering legal action against the 54-year-old diplomat for allegedly leaking the confidential information to Rep. Khang Hyo-shang, a lawmaker from the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP).

The diplomat, working at the South Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C., is suspected of sharing some key details of the Moon-Trump phone conversation with his high school alumni Khang, the day after the two leaders held talks. 

The presidential office said the diplomat admitted to the incident. 

“The telephone conversations between leaders of two countries are identified and categorized as the third-highest level of state diplomatic secrecy,” a senior presidential aide told reporters in a briefing, Thursday.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Since the #MoonJaein administration took over 2 years ago, its policies have yielded many public enterprises to go in red. This time, it's the post office. $168M loss. The first time in 135 years–that's even older than #SouthKorea. https://t.co/mHDO4VPluq

— Tara O (@DrTaraO) May 21, 2019

The Moon administration’s response to their poor economic policies appears to be to just spend more money:

President Moon Jae-in ordered the government on Thursday to spend more aggressively to solve problems such as slowing growth, weak jobs and worsening demographic changes.

“There are many areas in which we are still inadequate where people could feel improvements in the overall quality of their lives,” Moon said during a government national fiscal strategy meeting in Sejong. “There’s a need for the [government] finances to take a bolder role, more than ever, in urgently solving our society’s structural problems from low growth, polarization [of the top and bottom tiers], jobs, low fertility rate and aging population.” 

Although this is the third meeting held under the current administration, it was the first time that the meeting was held in Sejong instead of at the Blue House. 

“We’re at a turning point where we have to look back on our achievements in the last two years and prepare for the remaining three years,” Moon said. 

Moon particularly stressed that low-income people outside of the employment market, such as those who run small businesses like restaurants and convenience stores, need help.

“Self-employed people and those in lower-income households are struggling the most and this hurts me,” Moon said. “There is a demand for a more aggressive fiscal role in expanding jobs, enhancement on job safety nets such as introducing a system where additional financial support is provided for those whose unemployment paychecks has ended and measures for self-employed businesses.”

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but the whole reason small businesses are struggling and unemployment is up is because of the steep minimum wage increase that has raised labor costs and caused major job layoffs.

This may be President Moon’s greatest legacy, appointing left-wing ideologues into the Constitutional Court to ram through North Korea related legislation:

President Moon Jae-in on Friday rammed through the appointments of two Constitutional Court justices whom lawmakers refused to confirm.

Moon formalized the appointments of Lee Mi-sun and Moon Hyung-bae to the bench of the Constitutional Court around 12:40 p.m. on Friday, Senior Presidential Secretary for Public Affairs Yoon Do-han said.

“In order to prevent vacancies in the Constitutional Court, Moon, currently on a state visit to Uzbekistan, used the electronic signature system to approve the appointments,” Yoon said. 

Those appointments brought the number of top officials Moon rammed through without National Assembly conformation hearing reports to 15. Since he took office in May 2017, Moon named 11 minister-level officials and four Constitutional Court judges without getting lawmakers’ blessings, which is legal.

Joong Ang Ilbo

This news of packing the Constitutional court with ideologues friendly to the Moon administration has made his political opposition very unhappy:

The LKP has fiercely protested Moon’s picks. Earlier Friday morning, Rep. Na Kyung-won, floor leader of the LKP, said Moon insisted on the appointments because they “are the final pieces to complete Moon’s puzzle to create a leftist dictatorship.” 

It takes six out of nine Constitutional Court justices to rule a law unconstitutional, and Na said Moon has secured the magic number. 

“The Moon administration will no longer have any reason to struggle in the National Assembly to revise laws,” she said. “It can just file constitutional petitions against laws it does not like and rule them unconstitutional.” 

Joong Ang Ilbo

Remember President Moon wants to create a confederation with North Korea. Packing the Constitutional Court with left wing ideologues will allow him to pass any laws needed to make this a reality.

If it wasn’t bad enough that so called “meritorious persons” are receiving much more lavish government benefits than veterans, now certain veterans may not even be able to get buried in a national cemetery:

A controversy surfaced when the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans pursued an initiative to cancel burial benefits for military veterans with less than 20 years service but more than 10 years service and instead make room for the burial of those who participated in candlelight protests and those designated as “Democracy Movement Meritorious Persons.”  This means certain military veterans will no longer be eligible to be buried at the national cemeteries. The Korean War Veterans Association and other veterans groups strongly opposed the move.

East Asia Research Center

You can read much more at the link.