It is refreshing to hear a Korean president speak the truth about why the Japanese are increasing their military capabilities instead of demagoguing the issue for political benefit:
President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks at a joint policy briefing from the foreign ministry and the defense ministry at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Jan. 11, 2023, in this photo provided by the presidential office.
President Yoon Suk Yeol said Wednesday that Japan’s moves to bolster its defense capabilities are hard to stop in the face of the threat of North Korea’s missiles.
Yoon made the remark during a joint policy briefing from the foreign and defense ministers, referring to Japan’s recent increase in its defense budget and its inclusion of the “counterstrike” concept in its revised security documents.
“We can wonder how a country adopting a pacifist constitution can do such things, but if there are missiles flying over their heads and the possibility of a nuclear strike, it’s not easy to stop,” he said during the meeting at the former presidential compound of Cheong Wa Dae.
“Japan increased its defense budget because there are IRBMs flying over their heads, and decided to include the so-called ‘counterstrike’ concept in its defense plan,” he said, referring to intermediate-range ballistic missiles that North Korea fired over Japan. “How can anyone take issue with that?”
You can read more at the link, but DPRK apologists in the Korean left will take issue with anything the Japan does to defend themselves. At least the current Korean President is not one of them.
The Korean left continues to try and pressure President Yoon to fire the Interior Minister over the Itaewon crowd crush disaster:
The National Assembly passes a motion calling for the dismissal of Interior Minister Lee Sang-min on Dec. 11, 2022. (Yonhap)
The opposition-controlled National Assembly on Sunday passed a motion calling for the dismissal of Interior Minister Lee Sang-min over the bungled government response to the deadly Itaewon crowd crush.
The motion won backing from 182 of the 183 lawmakers who cast ballots, with one vote declared invalid.
Members of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), which has opposed the dismissal motion, boycotted the vote and walked out of the chamber en masse before voting began.
You can read more at the link, but according to the article President Yoon will likely ignore the opposition party’s demands. This is clearly politically motivated to try and put blame on the Yoon administration for the Itaewon tragedy when any fair minded person realizes that this was a failure of crowd control at the local police level.
This poll seems pretty biased when people who face losing their jobs are being surveyed:
Members of the Korean Government Employees’ Union hold a press conference on Nov. 15, 2022, in Seoul’s Yongsan district. (Yonhap)
More than 83 percent of unionized civil servants support punishing and sacking Interior Minister Lee Sang-min for the bungled emergency response to the deadly crowd crush in Seoul’s neighborhood, their union said Monday.
The results came in a poll conducted among members of the Korean Government Employees’ Union from Tuesday through Thursday, asking civil servants to rate the Yoon Suk-yeol government’s policies in a seven-point questionnaire. About 38,000 of the union’s 120,000 took part in the survey.
Of those who responded, 83.4 percent said the interior minister should be fired and punished as one responsible for the deadly crowd crush on Oct. 29, the union said.
Nearly 93 percent opposed the government’s workforce downsizing plan, while its push to privatize some public service sectors drew objections from 87.9 percent. Almost 90 percent objected to the government pushes to expand work hours and have differentiated minimum wages for different business sectors.
You can read more at the link, but it is in my opinion nothing more than virtue signaling to fire the Interior Minister for failed crowd control measures. So every time there is a festival, concert, etc. in Korea in the future, the Interior Minister has to show up and direct crowd control to avoid be held responsible for it going wrong?
This latest trip abroad for President Yoon has gone way better than his last one where he showed up late to Queen Elizabeth’s funeral and was caught using an expletive on a hot mic initially reported to be directed towards President Biden:
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (L), U.S. President Joe Biden (C) and South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee pose for a photo during a gala dinner for leaders attending ASEAN summits at the Chroy Changvar International Convention and Exhibition Center in Phnom Penh on Nov. 12, 2022, in this photo provided by the presidential office.
President Yoon Suk-yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee briefly reunited with U.S. President Joe Biden at a gala dinner for world leaders in Phnom Penh the previous day, the presidential office said Sunday.
Yoon and Kim “met with U.S. President Joe Biden who entered the venue shortly after they arrived and happily exchanged greetings,” deputy presidential spokesperson Lee Jae-myoung said in a written briefing. “President Yoon and President Biden caught up with each other and fondly posed for photos.”
The couple also happily exchanged greetings with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his wife, Yuko, Lee said.
The leaders are in Cambodia to attend regional summits involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. On Sunday, Yoon, Biden and Kishida are scheduled to hold bilateral and trilateral summits on the event’s sidelines.
It is pretty clear that the political opposition wants to form this committee so they can come up with findings to blame the Yoon administration for the crowd crush tragedy in Itaewon:
Rep. Yong Hye-in (L) of the Basic Income Party, Rep. Wi Seong-gon (C) of the Democratic Party and Rep. Jang Hye-yeong of the Justice Party submit a joint request to open a parliamentary probe into the Itaewon crowd crush at the National Assembly on Nov. 9, 2022. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) and two minor progressive parties submitted a joint request Wednesday for a parliamentary investigation into the Itaewon crowd crush despite opposition from the ruling party.
The DP, the Justice Party (JP) and the Basic Income Party submitted the request to the National Assembly’s Bills Division on Wednesday afternoon, with an aim to have the request reported at a parliamentary plenary session scheduled for Thursday.
“We should clearly determine where the responsibility lies and come up with measures to prevent a recurrence by looking thoroughly into the accident, including its cause and measures taken before or after the tragedy,” the parties said in the request sponsored by 181 lawmakers.
The parties called for forming an 18-member special committee to oversee the probe and look into whether measures by government agencies were appropriate and whether there were attempts to minimize or cover up the tragedy.
South Korea has joined with the vast majority of the world to condemn Russia’s attempted annexation of territory within Ukraine:
This undated file photo, provided by Yonhap News TV, shows the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ building in central Seoul.
The South Korean government said Saturday it does not recognize Russia’s recent annexation of Ukrainian territory as legitimate while strongly condemning Moscow’s invasion of the eastern European country.
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed treaties to annex four regions in Ukraine, following referendums in the territory late last month.
“The Korean government strongly condemns Russia’s armed invasion against Ukraine as a violation of the principles of the U.N. Charter,” foreign ministry spokesperson Lim Soo-suk said in a statement.
“The Korean government does not recognize the referenda held in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson and Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian territory as legitimate.”
You can read more at the link, but areas that Russia is claiming in this annexation have already been liberated by Ukraine. This includes Russia’s embarrassing defeat this weekend in the logistical hub of Lyman.
Just from a security stand point getting the Presidential office out of North Korean artillery range would be a smart move:
An illustration of a government building in Sejong Government Complex / Korea Times file
Several government ministries will team up to help facilitate the construction of a second presidential office in Sejong City, an administrative area 144 kilometers south of Seoul, by 2027, according to government officials, Sunday.
Setting up a second presidential office and a legislative building in Sejong was a key campaign pledge of President Yoon Suk-yeol, a vision he believes will cement the sparsely populated city as the nation’s administrative capital. The plan gained traction after the National Assembly revised related laws in May.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Interior and Safety and the National Agency for Administrative City Construction said a joint team of officials will commission a study before October to determine the function, size and location of the second office. Plans to strengthen the public transportation system and infrastructure in a broader context of city planning will also follow.
Reports that Yoon had to be briefed about the floods in his home last night because he was trapped there and could not travel to the control center or visit the affected areas.
So many online comments are now asking: Why did you move out of the Blue House?
Education Minister Park Soon-ae speaks during a press conference in Seoul on Aug. 8, 2022. (Yonhap)
Education Minister Park Soon-ae offered to resign Monday, just 34 days after taking office, amid criticism she mishandled key school policy proposals, such as lowering the elementary school entry age.
Park has been under pressure to step down after many teachers and parents protested strongly against lowering the school entry age by one year to 5. She has been criticized for announcing the proposal without sufficient preparations, such as collecting public opinion.
Her ministry had also unveiled a plan to abolish foreign language high schools, only to retract it days later.
Should President Yoon Suk-yeol accept the resignation, Park will be the first Cabinet minister to step down since Yoon took office in May.
It seems like momentum is building to resolve the forced labor issue between the ROK and Japan:
Foreign Minister Park Jin speaks at an interpellation session at the National Assembly on July 25, 2022. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
Foreign Minister Psrk Jin said Monday he believes a summit with Japan will take place once thorny issues, like Japan’s wartime forced labor, are resolved.
“I anticipate that a summit between South Korea and Japan will likely be held when desirable resolutions for ongoing issues, like wartime forced labor, are prepared,” Foreign Minister Park Jin told a parliamentary interpellation session.
Acknowledging that bilateral ties between the two countries are unlikely to recover without such a resolution, Park said the government will aim to find a “reasonable measure” for both countries while respecting the opinions of the victims.
When asked about possible measures to mend ties, Park said the government is reviewing many options such as former National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang’s proposal to launch a fund for the victims backed by both companies and people of South Korea and Japan.
