Category: Korean Government

This was always a concern that this agency would be used for partisan purposes by whoever was in charge at the time and that is what the opposition is claiming is happening now with the collecting of phone records of conservative media figures:

The state-run anti-corruption office is under fire over allegations that it searched through the phone records of reporters and citizens critical of the organization and the government. 

The agency claims that this was a due, legal process and that it only checked the information of those who had phone calls with some of the people it is investigating. However, there is speculation that this may expand into an illegal surveillance scandal.

When checking phone records, the investigation agency receives personal information including subscriber name, resident registration number and address from the relevant telecommunications company. If the person whose phone records were checked asks the telecommunications company, it has to inform them of the details of when and which investigative agencies have requested data within the past year.

According to local telecommunications companies, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (CIO) has asked for the phone records of at least 10 journalists from several conservative news outlets on multiple occasions. 

In detail, the CIO requested the phone records of six reporters from the Chosun Ilbo on 12 occasions from July to October, while it also rifled through the phone logs of three reporters from the Joongang Ilbo 11 times from May to October.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The Korean opposition party is not happy with President Moon’s latest interview:

Members of the country’s conservative opposition bloc have criticized President Moon Jae-in’s recent interview with Time magazine, taking issue with Moon’s description of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un as honest, enthusiastic and determined, as well as the timing of the article’s publication on Thursday, the day before the 71st anniversary of the outbreak of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Yoo Seong-min of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), a former four-term lawmaker and former presidential candidate in the 2017 election, posted on Facebook Thursday that Moon’s courting of Kim is delusional and upsets South Korean people, especially considering North Korea has issued a series of statements mocking Moon and his peace efforts.

“Who is Kim Jong-un’s honesty, passion and determination for? Is it for North Korean people? Is it for South Korean people? Or is it for North Korea’s nuclear missiles?” Yoo said. “The appearance of the President being swayed at Kim Jong-un despite so many humiliations is frustrating as a South Korean citizen.”

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

You would think they would have vetted this guy for property speculation before giving him the job:

The presidential secretary for anti-corruption, Kim Gi-pyo, has offered to resign, the presidential office said Sunday, following allegations of real estate speculation involving multimillion dollar loans.

President Moon Jae-in also immediately accepted his resignation, according to Park Soo-hyun, Cheong Wa Dae’s senior secretary for public communication.

“Presidential secretary Kim Gi-pyo has expressed his views that, although he did not acquire the real estate for purposes of speculation, he should no longer be a burden to the state affairs given the public’s expectations of a public servant’s ethical and social responsibilities,” Park said at a briefing.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but yet another Moon administration official bites the dust for unethical conduct.

It is believed that this appointment came in response to the election of 36-year-old Lee Jun-seok to the leadership of the opposition People Power Party:

Cheong Wa Dae’s appointment of a 25-year-old as a presidential secretary has created stir among politicians and citizens. While the presidential office tried to demonstrate its efforts to meet young people’s needs by appointing the political rookie to the high-ranking position, many citizens ― especially young ones ― view the appointment as “unfair” amid the reality where it is difficult for the majority of young people to get a job despite years of struggle.

On Monday, Cheong Wa Dae announced Park Seong-min’s appointment as the secretary for youth-related affairs, a newly created position. 

Park was one of the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s (DPK) spokespeople representing young members, and was picked as a member of the party’s Supreme Council last August by then-party Chairman Lee Nak-yon. Still studying at Korea University, Park plans to request a leave of absence from the university soon, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

She will get a salary and other perks equivalent to those of first-level government officials in the nine-tier public servant system, in which the first-level is the top level. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but Lee Jun-seok was elected into Parliament a decade ago and worked his way up through the ranks to his current position. This is in contrast to Park Seong-min who has not been elected to anything and yet was appointed to her position.

Here is the latest shake up in the South Korean government:

President Moon Jae-in has picked Chung Eui-yong, former director of national security at Cheong Wa Dae, as his new foreign minister, Moon’s office announced Wednesday. 

He also nominated Hwang Hee, a ruling Democratic Party (DP) lawmaker, as culture minister and Kwon Chil-seung, another DP lawmaker, as SMEs and startups minister in a partial Cabinet reshuffle, according to Chung Man-ho, senior presidential secretary for public communication.

The nominees face confirmation hearings at the National Assembly, the dates of which have yet to be set.

If appointed, Chung will replace Kang Kyung-wha, who has served as Moon’s first foreign minister. 

Chung had worked as Moon’s top security adviser for three years since the launch of the Moon administration in May 2017.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

President Moon and his Democrat Party keeps dropping in the approval ratings, but the Korean conservatives have yet to offer someone as their counter to him to capitalize on his unpopularity:

President Moon Jae-in’s job approval rating has fallen to a record low of 37.4 percent, a poll showed Thursday, with a rift between the justice minister and the top prosecutor deepening and housing prices in major areas continuing to rise.

Public approval for the ruling Democratic Party (DP) also dropped to 28.9 percent, the lowest since the launch of the Moon administration in May 2017, while that of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) rose to 31.2 percent, according to Realmeter.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Now the Korean left appears to be willing to throw Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae under the bus in order to get rid of Yoon Seok-youl:

With the Choo-Yoon conflicts becoming a political burden on the administration, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, during a meeting with the President, Monday, reportedly said Yoon’s voluntary resignation may be inevitable and also implied Choo’s resignation may also be needed.

The following day Moon had a short, unscheduled meeting with Choo at Cheong Wa Dae.

It was speculated that Moon talked about a “joint resignation” of Choo and Yoon. But the ministry said Choo only reported the current situation to the President and there were no talks about resigning.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but Choo is just carrying out the Blue House’s orders to get rid of Yoon because he would not cover up corruption occurring in the Moon administration. This is the thanks she gets from her own party, be a sacrificial lamb in order to pressure Yoon to resign.