Category: Korean Government

These systems that send out emergency notifications over text message may be more trouble than they are worth:

These images show mobile phone alerts sent out in the wake of North Korea’s launch of what appeared to be a space launch vehicle on May 31, 2023. (Yonhap)

The Seoul city government on Wednesday erroneously sent out an emergency alert advising citizens to prepare for evacuation after North Korea’s launch of what appeared to be a space launch vehicle.

The mobile phone alert was sent to all Seoul citizens at 6:41 a.m., shortly after the Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea fired what appeared to be a space launch vehicle. But the interior ministry retracted it at 7:03 a.m., saying the alert was sent by mistake.

“We inform that the alert warning issued by the Seoul Metropolitan City at 6:41 a.m. was an erroneous issuance,” the interior ministry said in a separate mobile phone alert.

A ministry official said that Seoul is not an area where an alert has been issued.

The Seoul city government said it was looking into why the alert was set off.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but at least people in Seoul are so desensitized to North Korean missile launches that they did not go into a mass panic like what happened in 2018 when a similar false text message missile alert was issued in Hawaii.

The opposition party controlled National Assembly has voted to arrest one of President Yoon’s PPP lawmakers. However, when the prosecution asked to indict opposition leader Lee Jae-myung for corruption they voted not to remove his immunity. Unsurprisingly there is a double standard going on here:

The National Assembly on Thursday voted to give parliamentary consent to the prosecution’s request to arrest ruling People Power Party lawmaker Ha Young-je on charges of receiving illicit political funds.

The motion was approved in a 160-99 vote in the National Assembly.

Ha has been under prosecution investigation on suspicion of receiving 70 million won (US$53,602) from a South Gyeongsang provincial council candidate ahead of last June’s local elections.

According to law, sitting lawmakers are immune from arrest while the parliament is in session. The prosecution must obtain parliament’s consent to detain lawmakers.

Yonhap

For people staying in Korea for longer than 90 days, they will be getting a new ID card:

The Ministry of Justice said Tuesday a new type of identification card will be issued to foreigners staying in South Korea for more than 90 days, starting on Saturday.

This is the first time in 12 years the ministry will introduce a new design for a Residence Card, formerly known as an Alien Registration Card.

A new Residence Card will feature a full-color photo of the holder that is 35 percent larger than the current version. The current design has a black-and-white photo of the holder. Also, the holder’s photo will be moved from the left side to the right.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

If you want to be in the upper middle class of Korea a government job is a good way to go. However, I am willing to bet that much of their wealth is tied up in the high real estate prices in Seoul:

About one-third of the ranking public officials at the central government and state-run institutions have more than 2 billion won (US$1.5 million) in personal wealth, an annual government report showed Thursday. 

A total of 2,037 senior public officials declared an average of 1.94 billion won in personal assets as of the end of last year, with 31.3 percent holding assets worth over 2 billion won, according to the gazette compiled by the Government Ethics Committee.

It was compiled for the first time after last year’s presidential and local elections. 

By amount, 28.8 percent owned assets ranging between 1 to 2 billion won, followed by 18.8 percent whose assets were valued at 500 million won to 1 billion won and 17.1 percent whose assets were between 100-500 million won. Some 3.9 percent declared assets worth below 100 million won.

Seven in 10 officials said their assets increased from a year earlier, mostly due to a rise in property prices.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is likely the reason Lee Jae-myung sought leadership of the political opposition despite being a failed presidential candidate; so he could claim any charges against him were politically motivated:

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) decided Wednesday to allow party leader Lee Jae-myung to retain his position despite his indictment on corruption charges. 

Earlier in the day, the prosecution charged him with bribery and breach of trust stemming from his time as mayor of Seongnam, south of Seoul, years ago.

Under Article 80 of the DP charter, the party is supposed to suspend those indicted on corruption charges from duty. But the rule does not apply when the indictment is deemed politically motivated. 

The DP’s party affairs committee convened after Lee’s indictment was announced, and made the decision to exempt Lee from suspension, according to DP spokesperson Kim Eui-kyeom.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The Korean left has struck back at the Yoon administration which is trying to reel in the violent and pro-North Korean KCTU:

Business associations expressed deep concern, Tuesday, over the opposition-led passage of the so-called “yellow envelope” bill, which limits employers’ claims for compensation against losses caused by labor strikes. 

Critics say the bill will encourage irresponsible and reckless collective actions by the country’s labor unions.

Korea’s militant labor unions have been and will continue to be the primary and strongest deterrent to foreign investors who otherwise would not hesitate to commit to long-term investments in Korea, the lobby groups said.

The bill will be made into law, if it is tabled and passes with a majority vote during a plenary session.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but the opposition parties are likely setting the stage for the KCTU to conduct large strikes in the future to damage the Korean economy. This is likely to put pressure on the Yoon administration to stop the investigations into the KCTU.

It appears same sex couples in Korea can now get the same national health insurance coverage as heterosexual couples:

An appellate court on Tuesday ruled in favor of a same-sex couple demanding the same spousal coverage from the state health insurance program as heterosexual couples.

The Seoul High Court delivered the landmark ruling, overturning a lower court’s decision that marriage in South Korea is considered a union between a man and a woman, and there are no legal grounds to expand the concept to same-sex couples.

The appeals court did not give a specific reason for its decision.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the big difference between spousal and individual health coverage in Korea comes down to the premium. Same sex couples had to previously each pay individual premiums while heterosexual couples were paying the married premium which was cheaper.

It will be interesting to see if this ruling leads to more Russian men trying to seek asylum in South Korea:

A local court on Tuesday ordered the Incheon Immigration Office to review refugee applications submitted by two Russian men who landed in Incheon International Airport last year after fleeing the military draft in their home country.

The Incheon District Court ruled in favor of the Russian men who filed complaints against the immigration authority, but dismissed a complaint filed by another man who was in a similar situation. 

The judge did not give a detailed explanation about the ruling during the hearing, saying that a detailed verdict will be issued later.

There are two more Russian men ― college student Vladimir Maraktaev and former football player Dzhashar Khubiev ― who are still stuck inside the airport waiting for their next hearing scheduled for late February.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Apparently the family waited too long to file a claim after the Korean Supreme Court issued their initial ruling of compensation for forced labor victims back in 2012:

A Seoul court on Tuesday ruled against the family of a man enslaved to work for Japan during World War II in a damages suit they filed against a Japanese company.

The man, surnamed Kim, was mobilized to work at a construction site operated by Japanese company Nishimatsu Construction in North Hamgyong Province in what is now North Korea in 1942 while the entire Korean peninsula was under Japan’s colonial rule, his family said. 

Kim died two years later while working at the construction site, and a South Korean government committee in 2006 recognized him as a victim of Japan’s wartime forced labor. 

Five family members of Kim filed the civil suit against Nishimatsu in 2019 on behalf of him, seeking about 70 million won (US$55,183) in compensation. 

The Seoul Central District Court ruled the statute of limitations on the case already expired as it concluded the damages case against the plaintiffs.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but this is definitely an issue that needs to be resolved before bilateral relations between the ROK and Japan can move forward more collaboratively. Expect all the DPRK and PRC agitators to do all they can to stoke this issue with the Korean public in order to prevent Japan and the ROK from moving forward with bilateral relations.