Category: Korean Government

I don’t know why the ROK military would come under scrutiny when they are the reason the martial law attempt failed. The rank and file did not want to implement the Presidential order:

This composite photo shows Defense Minister nominee Ahn Gyu-back (L), Unification Minister nominee Chung Dong-young (C) and Foreign Minister nominee Cho Hyun. (Yonhap)

President Lee Jae Myung on Monday named five-term lawmaker Ahn Gyu-back as defense minister, the first time in 64 years that a civilian defense chief has been nominated for the post, the presidential office said.

Lee’s pick of Ahn is seen as carrying out his election pledge to reform the military, a key promise from his presidential campaign to rebuild a nation fractured by the brief imposition of martial law in December last year under his predecessor, the ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol. 

The military has come under scrutiny since Yoon deployed troops to the National Assembly when he declared martial law on Dec. 3, allegedly to block lawmakers attempting to stop his brief imposition of martial law decree. Yoon was removed from office in April over the martial law debacle.

Yonhap

Lee Jae-myung also brought another Roh Moo-hyun administration retread into his cabinet as well by naming Chung-Dong-young as his unification minister:

Lee also nominated Chung Dong-young, a journalist-turned-veteran DP lawmaker, for unification minister, responsible for inter-Korean affairs. Chung previously served as the unification minister under the Roh Moo-hyun government from 2004-05.

“Chung has unmatched experience and a firm commitment to peace on the Korean Peninsula. He’s the right person to help create conditions for dialogue with North Korea and to find a breakthrough in easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula,” Kang said.

Chung just like President Lee’s spy chief nominee Lee Jong-seok is also a pro-North Korea cheerleader. He was the Unification Minister during the Roh administration when South Korea was giving more money to North Korea than what was being paid for the upkeep of the US-ROK alliance. Back then the Roh administration foolishly believed all the aid they gave to North Korea would be used to improve their economy. Instead the funding was poured into building their nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The selection of Chung for the Unification Minister position shows that the new Lee administration has learned nothing from past leftist mistakes, instead they are doubling down on them.

Does anyone really believe Lee Jong-seok does not have pro-North Korea views?:

Lee Jong-seok, the nominee to lead the National Intelligence Service (NIS), pushed back against claims that he is pro-North Korea, Thursday, saying he would serve with a pragmatic approach focused on national interests. 

“I don’t quite understand why my past remarks would be considered pro-North Korea,” Lee said during his confirmation hearing at the National Assembly. 

His comments came in response to a question from Rep. Song Eon-seok of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), who referenced Lee’s past statements opposing the deployment of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system and the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) with Japan.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but Lee Jae-myung has basically never nominated a Pyongyang cheerleader in charge of the ROK intellgence service. During his time as unification minister Lee Jong-seok was involved in establishing the quasi-slave labor Kaesong Industrial Complex that has since been shuttered. He was also helping the ROK government send more money to North Korea than they contributed to USFK cost sharing. He even said that due to all the money they were giving to North Korea that no one there was starving any more.

South Korea really needs a Constitutional convention because the Koren Democratic Party just continues to abuse their impeachment power. Now they are planning to impeach the Supreme Court Chief Justice because they don’t like how the court ruled on the election law violation case involving their leader Lee Ja-myung. They have no cause to impeach him other than they don’t like how the court ruled. It wasn’t like the decision was even close, it was a 10-2 verdict and they still want to impeach him:

The Democratic Party (DP) was set to hold an emergency meeting on Sunday during which it was expected to discuss measures to the Supreme Court’s decision to remand an election law violation case involving its presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung.

During an emergency general meeting of its lawmakers later in the day, the DP is likely to discuss whether to push for the impeachment of Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, who handed down the ruling last week. 

The Supreme Court ruled that Lee should be retried on allegations of making false statements during the 2022 presidential campaign and sent the case back to the Seoul High Court, reviving the possibility that Lee could receive a sentence barring him from running in the June 3 presidential election.

The DP has strongly condemned the court’s unusually swift ruling on the high-profile case, calling it a “judicial coup.”

Yonhap

The only coup going on is the from the Korean Democratic Party which continues to impeach members of the government. Their continuing impeachment of government officials is what directly led to the failed martial law plan by impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol. Their impeachment actions combined with Yoon’s failed martial law attempt has done nothing, but destablize what had been strong Democratic nation.

Repairs aren’t what is needed at Cheongwadae, a thorough sweeping for listening devices is what is needed after being open to the public for so long:

Presidential contender Rep. Lee Jae-myung’s proposal to move the presidential office back to Cheong Wa Dae has reopened a divisive national debate — not only about public access to the symbolic site but also about how presidential power should be situated in Korea.

In the liberal Democratic Party of Korea’s first televised primary debate on Friday, Lee said that if he is elected, he would continue using the current presidential office in Yongsan District for the time being but move to Cheong Wa Dae “after necessary repairs are made.” 

He said he eventually wants to move the presidential office to Sejong City, the nation’s administrative capital. But he added that moving directly to Sejong is unrealistic at this point, calling Cheong Wa Dae “a feasible interim step.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Anyone surprised by this finding? I doubt anyone will be held accountable though:

The previous Moon Jae-in government fabricated key official data on housing prices, income distribution and employment for nearly four years to make the public believe that its real estate and economic policies are effective, the state audit agency said Thursday.

Moon’s presidential office Cheong Wa Dae and the land ministry instructed the Korea Real Estate Board (REB), a public agency affiliated with the land ministry, to make downward adjustments of weekly and monthly housing price fluctuation rates or manipulate statistics to make it appear as if real estate policies were effective on a total of 102 occasions from January 2018 to October 2021, according to the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI).

The manipulation of official data was also widespread in the fields of income distribution and employment to conceal the negative consequences from widening income inequality and a surge in non-regular workers, the BAI said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Yoon wants to make changes to the Constitution if he is reinstated and the changes are made he will step down:

Impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday he will focus on revising the Constitution if reinstated, suggesting he could step down before the end of his single, five-year term.

Yoon made the remark in his final statement before the Constitutional Court, which is expected to deliver a ruling by mid-March on whether to uphold or dismiss his impeachment over his short-lived imposition of martial law in December.

“I will gather the will of the people and swiftly push for a constitutional amendment, doing my best to produce a Constitution and political structure that fit the changes in our society,” he said during the final hearing of his impeachment trial at the court.

“If a constitutional amendment and political reform are pursued correctly, I believe the separated and divided people will unite in the process,” he said.

“If that happens, there will be no reason to cling to the remainder of my term as guaranteed under the Constitution, and if anything, it will be a great honor,” he added.

South Korea’s Constitution limits presidents to a single, five-year term, but Yoon’s remark suggests he could accept calls to change the limit to two four-year terms and apply the rule to himself.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this seems almost like a last effort hail mary in order to sway the court to not uphold the impeachment.

It looks like South Korean lawmakers may be opening the door to having anchor babies in South Korea:

Lawmakers have proposed a bill requiring medical institutions to register the births of non-Korean babies in the government system, in a bipartisan bid to reduce the number of undocumented children and better protect their rights.

Last week, 11 lawmakers from both the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) jointly proposed a bill requiring hospitals and other medical institutions to report the births of children born to foreign nationals in the country, including undocumented residents. (………)

However, this policy has not extended to children born to non-citizens. As a result, some children born to undocumented foreign nationals in Korea remain unregistered, as their parents fearing deportation choose not to report the births. The exact number of such minors living in the country remains unclear. According to the Board of Audit and Inspection, at least 4,025 babies went unregistered between 2015 and 2022.

This is why the bill also seeks to ensure that government officials involved in birth registration are prohibited from reporting undocumented residents to the immigration office, providing a measure of protection for these families.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but if a bank robber shows up at the hospital to have a baby do they get immunity from being arrested as well?

It seems like the consensus in South Korea to develop their own nuclear deterrent continues to grow:

Defense minister nominee Kim Yong-hyun said Monday that South Korea’s nuclear armament could be among the options considered to respond to North Korea’s nuclear threats amid high public support for the idea of their country going nuclear.

“That is included among all possible options,” Kim said in a parliamentary confirmation hearing, in response to a question on the possibility of securing room for nuclear armament.

Speaking to reporters last month, Kim said that he was open to all means to respond to North Korea’s nuclear threats, while stressing that the alliance with the United States remains the basis in dealing with such threats.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.