Category: Korean Government

The DPK is looking to end the only institution that is a check on their power the Supreme Court by packing it with leftist sympathizers:

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK)’s recent legislative proposal to expand the number of justices on Korea’s Supreme Court from the current 14 has ignited a passionate debate. Advocates argue that reform would make the judiciary more representative, correct a long-standing conservative bias and ease the court’s workload. Critics fear the move is less about balance and more about power. Whatever one’s political sympathies, Korea would be wise to look abroad before proceeding. The experiences of Poland and the United States offer sobering warnings.

When Poland’s right-wing populist Law and Justice Party came to power in 2015 by capturing the presidency and a parliamentary majority, a wave of fear swept through Polish civic circles. The opposition worried that the judiciary remained the last check on the populists’ power, while party leaders countered that the courts were elitist, politically biased and hostile to the will of the people. On that basis, the government embarked on an ambitious project of “judicial reform.” They lowered the Supreme Court retirement age to remove senior judges, introduced a new disciplinary system that gave politicians greater power to punish or remove judges deemed disloyal, and expanded certain courts to stack them with loyalists — pejoratively dubbed “neo-judges.”

Defended as technical fixes, in practice these changes enabled the ruling party to increasingly capture the judiciary. Judges who resisted were harassed, sidelined or disciplined. Trust in the impartiality of Poland’s judiciary collapsed. The European Union condemned the reforms as violations of democratic norms and launched infringement proceedings. Nearly a decade later, after the populists’ fall from power, Poland’s Supreme Court now has competing chambers that issue contradictory rulings, deepening uncertainty and further eroding public trust — a clear illustration of how such reforms, even if well-meaning, can breed dysfunction.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

A very different Chuseok experience for former President Yoon and his wife this year:

Then-President Yoon Suk Yeol and then-first lady Kim Keon Hee celebrate the Chuseok holiday in this video message released in 2023. Courtesy of the Presidential Office

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, spent their first Chuseok in jail without any special meal, according to the Ministry of Justice, Monday.

Until last year, the ministry’s Korea Correctional Service provided inmates with special meals during the mid-autumn harvest festival that falls on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, as well as during the Lunar New Year, in accordance with the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Execution of Sentences and Treatment of Inmates.

Due to budget cuts for special meals in prisons this year, however, the agency stopped offering special food during Chuseok and the Lunar New Year.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It looks like South Korea will be teaming up with Elon Musk’s arch enemy Sam Altman in order to push its goal of becoming the AI hub of Asia:

President Lee Jae Myung met OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the US entrepreneur behind the AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT, as the latter visited Seoul on Wednesday. The two reached tentative agreements to set up two new data centers needed to meet Korea’s growing artificial intelligence demands.

At the meeting held at the presidential office in Seoul, Lee and Altman exchanged their views on South Korea’s ambition to become an AI hub for the Asia-Pacific region. Also attending the meeting were Lee Jae-yong, executive chair of chipmaker Samsung Electronics, and Chey Tae-won, chair of SK Group, the parent company of chipmaker SK hynix.

Revealing that he was one of Korea’s many ChatGPT subscribers, Lee said Altman “opened up a whole new world, which could be either delightful or dangerous,” and asked that Altman make a world that is the former. ChatGPT’s popularity has recently grown sharply in Korea, where its monthly active users exceeded 20 million in August.

Altman responded that he was excited to support South Korea’s AI ambitions and needs, and to develop AI to its full potential to bring it to the world.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

What a disaster this has turned into. Why were such sensitive data servers located near lithium ion batteries known to cause fires? Hopefully other governments and businesses are looking at where their cloud based storage is located at in order to prevent something like this from happening again:

The government’s official document storage system has been destroyed in last week’s fire at the state data management agency, wiping out work documents of the nation’s 750,000 civil servants, the interior ministry said Wednesday.

The cloud-based repository, known as G Drive, was among the 96 systems that burned down in Friday’s fire at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) in Daejeon, about 140 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the ministry.

As the system is not backed up externally, all documents stored on the repository have been lost. Government employees have been advised to save all work-related documents on G Drive since 2018, rather than on their computers.

Government branches that have exclusively used the system to store work documents are expected to experience significant disruptions to operations.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It looks like President Lee has the Japanese leadership bought into his fantasy of denuclearizing North Korea:

 President Lee Jae Myung held summit talks Tuesday with outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the southeastern city of Busan, where the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and to cooperate amid a shifting global trade order.

The meeting came about a month after Lee’s visit to Tokyo, marking the first visit in 21 years by a Japanese leader to a location other than Seoul.

In their third meeting, Lee said Seoul and Tokyo should face history while pursuing “future-oriented” cooperation to address shared challenges, such as low birth rates and an aging population.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but at this point I can’t believe any of these world leaders are stupid enough to actually think Kim Jong-un would give up his nukes. Denuclearization seems more like a talking point than an actual diplomatic strategy at this point.

Lithium ion batteries continue to be a major fire risk:

Burned lithium-ion batteries sit in a water tank after a fire at the National Information Resources Service in Daejeon. Friday’s blaze in an uninterruptible power supply room at the government data center disrupted hundreds of public services. Yonhap

Hundreds of government and financial services across Korea remain offline after a fire at a key national data center, disrupting citizens’ daily routines and causing frustration. Officials warned it could take up to two weeks before operations return to normal, affecting everything from housing applications to moving contracts.

The blaze broke out Friday evening at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) headquarters in Daejeon, the “nerve center” of Korea’s e-government infrastructure. Officials said 13 workers had been replacing lithium-ion batteries when sparks from one battery are believed to have ignited the fire, which spread across the fifth-floor server room. About 100 people evacuated safely, and one worker suffered minor burns. Firefighters brought the fire under control after 10 hours, but it took nearly 22 hours to completely extinguish it.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the Lee administration will not be able to jail Han Duck-soo at least in the near term:

A Seoul court on Wednesday rejected a warrant to arrest former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo over his alleged role in former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s botched imposition of martial law.

The Seoul Central District Court denied the warrant sought by the team of special counsel Cho Eun-suk, saying there is room for legal dispute regarding key facts and the legal assessment of the suspect’s actions.

Han is facing charges of abetting the ringleader of an insurrection, falsifying and destroying official documents, perjury, and other offenses.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This bill is basically giving collective bargaining rights to sub-contractors and those not directly employed by businesses. What is probably the most interesting aspect of this bill is that unions get protections from causing damage to businesses while protesting. Considering how violent the KCTU can be when protesting, it is likely them who advocated for this protection in the bill:

Korea’s contentious pro-labor bill — dubbed the “yellow envelope bill” — was approved at the National Assembly on Sunday, after nearly a decade of political tug-of-war.

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) railroaded the passage, with 183 votes in favor and three against out of 186 lawmakers present, mostly DPK and minor liberal parties. Members of the conservative main opposition People Power Party boycotted the vote, following a 24-hour filibuster that ended earlier that day. 

The new law, an amendment to Articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act, aims to broaden workers’ rights in collective actions and negotiations with employers. It will take effect six months after promulgation.

Under the revision, subcontracted and indirectly employed workers will be able to negotiate directly with parent companies on issues in which the parent company wields effective control, such as workplace safety.

The legislation also expands the scope of labor disputes to include restructuring and mass layoffs, though not all business decisions — such as overseas investments — automatically qualify. In addition, unions and workers gain protection from some damage suits for losses resulting from labor actions, especially those taken to defend their rights against an employer’s unlawful conduct.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

It looks like even Han Duck-soo is going to jail for the martial law decree as well:

A special counsel team on Sunday filed for a court warrant to arrest former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo over his alleged involvement in former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s botched attempt to impose martial law.

Special Counsel Cho Eun-suk’s team filed the request for the writ on a total of six criminal allegations, including charges of aiding Yoon’s efforts to impose the martial law decree on Dec. 3 last year.

Han is accused of having not stopped Yoon’s martial law declaration as the second-in-command to the former president. Cho’s team suspects Han aided Yoon’s attempt as a key accomplice.

Han is suspected of being involved in Yoon’s move to draft and destroy a revised version of the decree after martial law was lifted. He is also accused of lying under oath when he testified at the National Assembly in February.

It marked the first time in South Korea’s constitutional history that an arrest warrant has been sought against a former prime minister.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is not a bad choice, Kang Kyung-wha is a bit naive about North Korea, but overall I did not have too many issues with her when she was the ROK Foreign Minister during the Moon administration:

Former Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha is likely to be soon appointed as South Korea’s top envoy to the United States, sources familiar with the issue said Monday.

If confirmed, Kang, who served as South Korea’s top diplomat from 2017 to 2021 under former President Moon Jae-in, will become the Lee Jae Myung administration’s first ambassador to Washington.

“President Lee is soon likely to appoint ambassadors to the United States, Japan, China and Russia,” a ruling bloc official told Yonhap News Agency by phone. “Among these countries, I understand some have begun (appointment) procedures.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.